Sinceriously
by rubberduckybugati
Summary: This is my first Arrow fic, and starts around the same time as season one. Sara survived the island, was rescued with Oliver and together the two fight to bring justice to Starling City.
1. Chapter 1

Sinceriously

 **A/N: Hey guys! This is my first Arrow fic, it is a Canarrow fic because I always liked Oliver and a couple, no offense to Lauriver and Olicity shippers because I love both Felicity and Laurel anyway, here is the first chapter, hope you enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or any of it's characters or places, they all belong to DC comics and the CW.**

Chapter One

 _Starling City, the glades day._

A woman wearing a long flowing black cloak emerges from a car and heads straight for a dilapidated building with rusted a sigh reading 'Queen Consolidated' perched atop. Climbing swiftly over the chain-link fence she makes her way for the front door and slips inside before pulling down the hood of her cloak to reveal long black hair and twin katana blades strapped to her back. "Well this is a step up from the last place I found him in." she says to herself with a smile.

"Who are you talking to? And also who are you? And are you aware that this is private property, which means you are in fact trespassing, which is against the law, meaning I could have you arrested, well not me personally but my boss, well he's not really my boss but I work for him or with him..."

"You must be Felicity. I've heard so much about you I almost feel like I know you already." the woman says.

"Well I don't know that I must be Felicity, but yes I am her. What I don't know is how you know that when I have no idea who you are." the bespectacled blonde sitting at the bar says.

"If you're planning on using that picture you just not so stealthily took of me to run through facial recognition or something of that order I can save you the trouble by telling you it won't be any use. I'm not in any database local or international." the woman says.

"But that's not possible, there has to be a photo of you somewhere online, and if it's online I can find it." Felicity says.

"Be my guest, just try not to be too disappointed when you come up empty."

"Felicity, how are you going with the….who the hell are you?" an African American man demands emerging from the shadows at the back of the room.

"Did you just come up from the lair? Or should call it the 'Arrow cave'?" the woman in the cloak asks.

"I'll ask you one more time before I shoot you, who the hell are you?" the mans asks.

"Relax Diggle, I come in peace." she says ignoring the question.

"Ok, how do you know my name, and why should I trust you? Just because you say you come in peace?" Diggle asks.

"Well John it's really quite simple, I know your name because I know all about what's down in the basement, and what kind of operation you all run in here, and I don't mean the night, although I am interested in why he chose to run a night club of all things. As for your second question, if I wanted you dead I would have done it by now, I don't generally waste time introducing myself to my targets, it's really much more effective to kill them on sight." she says. "So are The Arrow and Canary here or should I come back later?"

"I don't know what you're taking about" Diggle says.

"I would believe you Mr Diggle, if I didn't think you were full of crap" she says with a smirk.

"If you really are a friend as you claim to be, then why can't you tell us who you are?" Felicity asks.

"Never said I can't tell you who I am, I just haven't told you yet, there's a difference" she says.

"SO are you gonna tell us?" Felicity asks.

"No, but not for the reasons you think. Rest assured however that all will be revealed in due course, now please tell me where I can find The Arrow I have important business to discuss with him and his little bird" she says.

"Like I said before, I don't know what you're talking about." Diggles says.

"Ok, if that's the way you want to play it. Just don't say I didn't give you the opportunity to cooperate when you wake up" she says before pulling a hidden bow from and firing an arrow at him before he can draw breath.

"What the hell was that! You say you're a friend and then you shoot John? What the hell is wrong with you?" Felicity demands.

"Relax it's just a tranquilizer, he'll wake up in about an hour. Now are you going to tell me where our vigilante friends are or shall I just go down to the lair and pull up their tracking information on the computer?" she asks.

"How do you know about that? I mean….I don't know what you're talking about. What lair? All we have down in the basement and spare chairs and alcohol." Felicity says.

"Ok enough with the stonewalling, you know that I know that you know what's down there, so why don't we just skip this whole part so I can find the Arrow and tell him what I came here to tell him before it's too late. Unless of course you'd like to be responsible for the abandoned wasteland formerly known as Starling City." she says.

"What are you talking about?" Felicity demands.

"Get me the Arrow and I'll tell you." she says.

"No, you can't just come here and say something like that and just expect me to do what you want." Felicity protests.

"Ok fine, you wanna know what's coming? Imagine the worst thing you have ever experienced and times that by about a billion and you might come close to what I am talking about, now for last time, quit stonewalling me and tell me where the hell I can find Oliver!" she snarls with a dangerous glint in her eye pulling out one of her katanas for emphasis.

"Ok, ok, I'll help you, just but the knife thing away." Felicity says.

"It's called a katana actually, and it's a samurai sword originating from ancient Japan, this particular one has been in my family for generations." she says.

"But you're not Japanese." Felicity points out.

"No, I'm not, can we please get back to the task at hand? Namely finding Oliver, if you don't have the time I can do it myself, all I need is a computer.

"You know computers?" Felicity asks.

"I know enough to get by and that is the last question I will be answering until you answer mine, where the hell are the Arrow and the Canary?" she demands a hint of annoyance creeping into her tone.

"I can't tell you that." Felicity says.

"Well then you leave me no choice." she says snatching the laptop on the bar.

"Hey that's mine!" Felicity snaps.

"I gave you the option of helping me. " she responds with a shrug before firing an arrow into the fuse box plunging the club into darkness.

 _Unknown Rooftop in Starling City. Day._

"Whatever it is you're thinking about right now, stop it." Sara Lance says slipping her hand into her boyfriends.

"How do you know what I'm thinking isn't something good?" Oliver counters.

"Because I know you Ollie, sometimes better than you know yourself, and you have that look in your eye that look that tells me you're blaming yourself for what happened, just like you always do. But guess what? It's not your fault someone killed James Holder, just like it's not your fault we got stranded on Lian Yu. Or that your father died, or Thea got into trouble while we were gone." she replies.

"Ok fine, so maybe James Holder isn't my fault, and maybe Thea getting into trouble isn't either, but some things are my fault. You would never have been on the boat if it weren't for me. If I hadn't been so selfish and self-centred you never would have gotten on that boat and you never would have had to go through everything you went through the last five years. Every scar you have is my fault because you wouldn't have been in those situations if I hadn't made you come on the boat with me." he says.

"Ollie how many times do I have to tell you, the scars are not your fault, you didn't give me any of them, and I got on the boat because I wanted to not because you made me." she replies reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Do you wanna know something else? I don't regret that decision, not one bit, because if I hadn't gotten on that boat with you I never would have had the opportunity to fall in love with you and I can't imagine my life without you in it." she tells him before pulling him closer and pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss.

"I love you to Sara. I would never have survived those five years without you." he replies kissing her back with equal passion.

"Well it's good to know some things never change. You two are still nauseatingly in love with each other." an unfamiliar voice says and a figure in a black cloak lands on the rooftop bow drawn and aimed at the two.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading hope you liked the first chapter, let me know what you think and If I should continue or not.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

 **DISCLAMIER: I DO NOT OWN ARROW OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS THEY BELONG TO DC COMICS AND THE CW.**

 **A/N: Here's the next chapter, hope you all like it. As I said in the last chapter, this story begins around Season One but will have a few changes from the show.**

Oliver and Sara hastily pull away from each other and turn in the direction of the voice only to be met by the a rapidly approaching arrow, Oliver ducks pulling Sara down with him just barely avoiding getting shot before drawing his own bow and firing back in the direction the voice came from.

"I almost forgot how good you are with that thing." the voice says as a figure emerges casually swinging Olivers' arrow in her hand. "You almost got me that time, it's been years since someone's gotten close to hitting me, it's almost refreshing."

"If almost getting shot was so much of a thrill for you how about actually getting shot?" Oliver snarls nocking three arrows simultaneously and firing them at the intruder.

"Impressive." she comments flipping and jumping to avoid the arrows before looking the archer in the eyes with a smile. "I bet that comes in handy when you're chasing down the bad guys. Nice use of the hood by the way Shado and Yao Fei would be proud."

"How do you know about them?" Sara demands drawing her batons and advancing on the new comer.

"Give it your best shot." she responds.

"Pretty cocky for someone who won't even tell us their name." Sara replies "Come on Ollie let's see if she can back all that talk with some action."

"I'd love to." Oliver replies and the two vigilantes run towards the intruder in a well-practiced synchronisation, one approaching from each side cutting off her escape. Sara attacks first hitting out with her baton before Oliver pulls a similar baton from behind his back and comes at her from the other side.

"Nice team work." the woman says pulling twin katanas from her back and blocking both attacks simultaneously before disarming Sara and turning her attention to Oliver. "You wanna surrender?"

"Never." Oliver responds hitting out at her with his baton.

"Your technique has improved. Quite significantly actually, have you been working with Sara on that since getting back from the Island or did you pick it in Nanda Parbat?" she asks.

"Nyssa?" Sara asks getting to her feet and coming to stand beside Oliver "is that you? Why are you here? I thought you and your father approved of our leaving to save our city as long as we honour our commitment to the League."

"You flatter me with the comparison, but no I am not the demons heir. I have however had the honour of meeting her but we're not here to skip down memory lane. At least not yet, I came because I have information that might be of some interest to you." she says.

"And are you going to share that information with us or just continue to taunt us with your knowledge of us while offering nothing about who you are or your intentions." Oliver says.

"My intentions are to inform you of an impending threat and with your permission help you to take them out before they destroy your city." she says.

"And why would you want to do that?" Sara asks.

"Because there are people here that I care about, something the three of us have in common." she replies.

"You have family in Starling?" Oliver asks.

"You could say that. We're not related by blood but I definitely consider them family, and I hope feel the same." she says. "I was hoping to catch up with them while I'm here but they're proving to be harder do track down than I thought."

"May I ask who these people are? Maybe I know them." Oliver asks.

"Now that's the Oliver I know, always wanting to help others, and thank you for that. But I've already found them." She says pushing a button on her wrist. "In fact, they're standing right in front of me."

Sara lowers her baton and lets out a low chuckle "I should have known it was you" she says shaking her head "So what brings you to our little corner of the world?"

"Like I said, I have information on an impending threat and I figured who better to help me than The Arrow and The Canary." she replies "I met your partners, John Diggle and Felicity Smoak, didn't get to the lair though, we didn't exactly get off on the right foot they didn't give me the information I wanted so I had to use other means to track you down."

"You didn't hurt them to badly did you?" Oliver asks.

"I didn't hurt them at all. I shot Dig with a tranquilizer arrow and borrowed Felicity's laptop but I'm hoping they'll be able to look past that in light of the information I have to share with you all." she says."I heard from a reliable source that the Triad are teaming up with Malcom Merlyn to expand their territory and start pushing more drugs into the glades."

"What reliable source would that be?" Sara asks.

"Anatoli. He sends his regards by the way, he said to tell you he misses his favourite American and to remind you that you are welcome in Russia anytime. The Bratva and The Triad have so far managed to co-exist in Starling, but if this goes ahead that might all change and if a mob war starts that will be detrimental to Starling."

"But why would Malcom want to a part of the Triads plan?" Oliver asks.

"Because his wife was killed in The Glades, she was attacked and dying and no one helped her, he thinks all the people in The Glades should be punished for that." She replies.

"We can't kill Malcom though, Tommy is one of my best friends, and he is Ollies best friend, killing his father wouldn't be a good move on our part Ana." Sara points out.

"So, you go after the Triad" Ana replies.

"But the Triad know who we are, they wouldn't take us seriously. They never have before, what's going to make this time any different to other times we've crossed paths with them?" Sara asks.

"Because this time you won't be going as Oliver Queen and Sara Lance, former castaways turned vigilantes. You'll be going against them as Oliver Queen Bratva captain, and Sara Lance….ok so you'll still be Sara Lance but you'll have him…and you'll have me…granted I have no title either but three sets of fists are better than two right?" Ana asks.

"And the Bratva is ok with this course of action?" Oliver asks.

"Anatoli suggested it, says he doesn't want to start a mob war if he can avoid it." Ana replies.

"Seems like we have some work to do." Sara says. "We should get back to the Arrow cave" she adds with a sidelong glance at her boyfriend.

"We don't call it that!" Oliver insists indignantly.

"Oh I don't know, it does have a nice ring to it, and well this whole crusade was started by you on your fathers request and t is in your families building so I think it fits." she says sliding her hand into his.

"If you start calling it the Arrow cave I'm going back to Lian Yu" he threatens.

 _Meanwhile at the foundry._

Felicity is pacing back and forth in front of the bar waiting for a still unconscious Diggle to wake up, frantically typing on her phone, she lets out a sigh of frustration before sinking down to sit on the nearest chair and resting her head against the back.

"W-what happened?" Diggle asks groggily sometime later slowly rising to a sitting position and glancing up at Felicity enquiringly.

"Some crazy woman came here demanding to know where Oliver and Sara are because apparently she has important information for them, and when we refused to help her she shot you with a tranquilizer arrow, stole my laptop and took out the lights and the disappeared without a trace." Felicity responds.

"But the lights are still working Felicity." Diggle points out.

"Yes I know the lights are still working Diggle, she shot the fuse box and plunged the whole place into darkness but then the lights came back on about five minutes later and the arrow was gone and so was she." Felicity explains.

"So do you think she's a threat?" Diggle asks getting to his feet and making his way over the chair beside her.

"I don't know, she didn't kill us. But she seems to know an awful lot about all four of us, I guess she could be an undercover cop, but the cops don't know who the Arrow and Canary are and she does, so she's probably not a cop." Felicity says.

"You think she managed to find them?" Diggle asks.

"I'd say the odds on that are fairly high." Ana says entering the club with her hood down and bow slung casually over her shoulder.

"You have a lot of nerve coming back here." Diggle says drawing his gun and aiming it at her head.

"I've been told that before, on multiple occasions actually. But like I said before I come in peace." she says.

"What and we're just supposed to take your word for it after you shot me and stole her computer?" Diggle asks.

"It was just a tranquilizer Diggle, and I didn't steal her computer. I borrowed it fully intending to return it as soon as I had used it to get what I wanted. Which I have now done, so here's the laptop." she says crossing the room and placing it on the table in front of Felicity. "I assure you it's exactly how it was when I borrowed it, in fact it's a little better, I updated the firewall and added a couple of extra security measures so it should now be pretty much impossible to remotely hack into to steal files."

"You tampered with my firewall?" Felicity shrieks grabbing the computer and turning it on.

"No I improved it. The one you had was good, but I have access to a better one and since there's all kinds of information on our mutual friends I took it upon myself to upgrade it" Ana replies.

"Oh she's gonna kill you, no one messes with her computer and lives to tell about it." Diggle comments.

"Well technically the computer belongs to Queen Consolidated, it was bought by the company and given to her to use for IT work, but it is still technically the property of Queen Consolidated meaning I am perfectly within my rights to use it." Ana says.

"That might be true if you were a QC employee, which you're not." Felicity says.

"No I'm not, but Oliver gave me his permission to use QC resources whenever I see fit." she says.

"And when did he do that?" Diggle asks.

"About three or four years ago." Oliver replies entering the foundry hand in hand with Sara.

"But Oliver you were on the island for the last five years" Diggle points out.

"Yes, I was. Or rather…. we were." Oliver says. "All three of us."

"You were on the Island?" Felicity asks turning to Ana.

"Yes, I was, and no I am not going to talk about it." Ana replies.

"Can you at least tell us your name now?" Diggle asks.

"Sure, but let's go down to the lair, don't want a member of the public wondering in and blowing your cover. Unless you want to reveal your identities to the whole city and let everyone in on your secret." she says.

"How is it that you know so much about our operations? I thought we were doing pretty well with the whole keeping people in the dark about our extra-curricular activities." Felicity asks as they enter the lair.

"You do a pretty good job. I just knew what to look for and where to start looking, the police and everyone else in the city who is trying to find out who the vigilantes are don't have any idea where to start so they're pretty much flying blind." Ana says, "And really who is going to suspect a billionaire playboy and the girl who ran off with her sisters' boyfriend of being the vigilantes?"

"Well it's nice to know you have such a high opinion of us." Oliver jokes.

"That's what they all think Ollie, I know the real you. Both of you, you're not the selfish kids you were when you got on that boat. You've changed, you survived five years of hell and still managed to hold onto your humanity, not many people can do that. Most people couldn't endure even half of what you two have" Ana says.

"Well it helped that we had a few friends along the way." Sara comments.

"Friends are a good thing, especially friendships forged through the tough times. That's when you really know you can count on someone, when they don't abandon you even when a whole battalion of psychopaths is coming to kill you." Ana says.

"You three faced down a battalion?" Diggle asks.

"Well it wasn't a whole battalion, more like a company of about fifty or sixty. But yes, we did face them down." Oliver says, "And that is all we're going to say on the matter."

"But I thought the island was uninhabited, where the hell did fifty or sixty soldiers come from?" Felicity asks.

"They came on a boat in the dead of night lead by and mad scientist who liked to keep people locked in cages and use them as human guinea pigs for his experiments. He also had a tendency towards torturing his prisoners for information." Ana snarls.

"So, this is our base of operations, pretty basic but we have everything we need" Oliver says hastily changing the subject. "That fridge there contains our blood in case of emergency, which has come in handy a couple of times already."

"I bet it has, throwing yourself off buildings and taking on the criminal underbelly can take a toll on a person. Not much good happened on that Island, but it did help forge the two of you into forces to be reckoned with. I wouldn't want to face you down in a dark alley" Ana says.

"Ummm not to like break family reunion or anything but…you did say you were going to tell us your name once we got down to the lair, and well…here we are." Felicity says "have been for the last five minutes, with a stranger in the lair and no idea if she's an ally or an enemy." she mutters to herself.

"If I was an enemy Felicity I wouldn't have wasted all this time making small talk, also knowing all you do about Oliver and Sara, how they're hiding their identity from everyone including their families who they love more than anything else in the world do you really think they'd invite me down here if that thought for even a second that I might pose a threat to them and their crusade? If I was working for Malcolm Merlyn or the Triad and wanted to get my hands on the book I would have just killed you all and searched for it alone." Ana says.

"She's a friend, one that both Sara and I trust with our lives because she has saved both of our lives on multiple occasions, so I would appreciate it if you would refrain from doubting her motives. I personally vouch for her and if my word is not good enough for you then know where the door is and no one is going to stop you from walking through it." Oliver says.

"My name is Ulyana Toya Hjelmstad. But you can call me Ana." Ana says. "Now down to business. Malcolm Merlyn CEO of Merlyn Global and father to Thomas Merlyn aka Tommy is working with The Triad to push more drugs into The Glades."

"But why would Tommy's father want push drugs into the glades? What does he stand to gain from that?" Diggle asks.

"Rebecca Merlyn was killed in The Glades. Malcom hates the people in The Glades because no one stopped to help her, they just left her lying in the street while she bled out." Ana explains. "He wants everyone in The Glades to suffer for not helping her."

"So he's helping The Triad to sell drugs?" Felicity asks. "No offense but that doesn't really seem like a massive threat."

"That's just the start of it. He has something else in the works, something big, I don't know what it is, or what his timeline is. All I know is that he's calling it The Undertaking." Ana explains. "I am here to help ensure that doesn't happen."

"And why would you care what happens to Starling City? Judging by your name and accent you're not from here. Where are you from anyway?" Diggle asks.

"I've lived in many places all over the world, Norway, Russia, China, Japan, Canada, even lived in Australia for a little while and of course everyone's favourite place Lian Yu." she says exchanging a smile with Oliver and Sara. "But as to why I am here, it's really quite simple. Oliver and Sara are here, I consider them family and where I'm from you never turn your back on your family."

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed Chapter Two! I'm thinking about starting some flashbacks in the next few chapters, would people be interested in that?**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

 **DISCLAMIER: I DO NOT OWN ARROW OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS THEY BELONG TO DC COMICS AND THE CW.**

 **A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it, it took a little longer to post than I thought it would…had a busy weekend at work with a private function so I didn't have time to post yesterday when I was planning too.**

Oliver and Sara's apartment later that night.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you want to, in fact we would love it if you'd consider staying permanently. We can always use someone with your capabilities." Sara says as the two women watch Oliver cook.

"Are you sure there's nothing we can do to help?" Ana asks.

"Totally sure, you two just hang out and catch up, I have everything under control in here." Oliver assures them with a smile.

"I know I've probably told you this before, but you have a good one there. Don't let him go, the good ones are hard to find. Men who cook and clean without being asked are few and far between, also he's kinda easy on the eye and can kick ass in a fight." Ana says.

"Oh, I don't plan on letting him go any time soon, or ever as a matter of fact. I know we got together under less than perfect circumstances and if I could go back and not sleep with my sisters' boyfriend I would. But I love Ollie, and I honestly don't know what I would do without him." Sara responds.

"Well you're definitely right about the circumstances being less than perfect, but as someone who has been with you both through the good and bad times I can personally vouch for the fact that you're about as perfect for each other as any couple could be." Ana says.

"I couldn't imagine my life without him. He understands me in a way no one else does, not even my parents. I know I can tell him anything and he's not going to judge me or look at me any differently. I never had that before I met him. If I told almost anyone else what happened during those five years, or what I had to do, what I had to become to survive, they'd see me differently. They think I was a monster or that I'm insane and need to be locked up in a mental institution." Sara says.

"What are you two talking about?" Oliver asks curiously on his way past the kitchen table, knife in hand.

"Secret girl talk." Sara says poking her tongue out at him.

"Say no more, I know when I'm not wanted." he jokes back.

"You're always wanted." she says grabbing his free hand and pulling him towards her for a quick kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." he replies returning her kiss. "I should get back to the kitchen, don't want to burn dinner."

"So what are you making for us anyway?" Ana asks.

"I caught a bird in the garden and a couple of rats in the basement of the club, so I thought I'd cook them up with some vegetables and a red wine reduction." he replies.

"He's joking, right?" she asks. "I can never tell with him. I'd hate to come up against him in a poker game because I could just never win."

"Yeah he's joking, I don't know what he's making though, I asked him this morning but he said it was a secret, and when Ollie wants to keep a secret nothing will make him reveal it before he's ready." Sara informs her.

"So how's he doing with his tendency to take the blame for everything?" Ana asks.

"Like you said up on the roof, some things never change. He still takes the blame for everything that goes wrong, even if there is no possible way it could have been his fault." Sara says with a sigh. "He still blames himself for everything I had to go through the last five years, even though I've told him countless times that I don't blame him one little bit and that it was my decision to get on the Gambit with him."

"And I'd bet a lot of money that you'd make the same decision again if you were ever given the opportunity to go back t in time to that moment." Ana says.

"You'd win that bet, every time. I'd get on the boat with him in a heartbeat, even knowing everything I'd have to go through. All the bad times, all the sacrifices I had to make, the betrayals, the injuries all of it pale in significance compared to what I got in return. I got to fall in love with the best man in the universe and have him fall in love with me." Sara says.

"He is pretty amazing." she agrees. "And I don't just mean when he has his shirt off, but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't at least part of his appeal. Plus his selflessness, there aren't many people who'd be able to endure the kind of torture Fyers put him through when he was trying to information on the whereabouts of Shado's father."

"Hey! Back off, he's mine!" Sara responds with mock annoyance.

"Oh trust me I know he's yours. Anyone who spends more than about five minutes with the two of you knows without a doubt that you're together for the long haul and that trying to come between you would be futile." Ana says. "Felicity seems quite infatuated with him though, the way she was looking at him back in the Foundry left little to the imagination, or is that just the way she is?"

"Oh he's got himself an admirer in her that's for sure. You should see her when he's the salmon ladder, she can't keep her eyes off him." Sara says. "Same thing when we're sparring, I'll catch her staring at him with longing eyes."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Ana asks.

"A little" Sara says with a shrug. "But if I let it get to me every time someone made eyes at him I'd drive myself crazy. Especially now that we're back home, he's Oliver Queen, everyone knows he is, son of Robert Queen CEO of the multi-billion-dollar Queen empire. We can't go out anywhere in this city without at least one girl shamelessly throwing herself at him."

"Handsome young billionaire, comes back from the dead after five years on an uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere, who also just happens to be the heir to a multi-billion-dollar empire that has offices and factories all over the world? Yeah that's definitely going to garner the attention of a few gold diggers and bimbos wanting their fifteen minutes of fame." Ana says.

"Dinners ready" Oliver announces bringing a steaming lasagne to the table.

"Well this is definitely a step up from the birds and rodents we ate on the island." Ana says.

"His cooking skills have improved a bit in the last few years." Sara says.

"I can tell, this smells amazing." Ana says.

"Hopefully it'll taste better than the first meal we shared together." Sara comments "that was definitely not your best effort Ollie."

"You can say that again, the first time he cooked I was afraid he was gonna blow the island or at the very least set the forest on fire." Ana says.

"I love you guys too." Oliver says sarcastically. "And as for this meal tasting better than that one, I have just one thing to say my resources are significantly better here than they were on the island"

"We also have wine" Sara says "What shall we have tonight? Red, white or sparkling?"

"I have a bottle of case of 1985 Chateauneuf Du Pape in the basement, we could have a bottle of that." Oliver suggest.

"A case of it? What'd you two do knock of a wine merchant or something?" Ana asks.

"Not quite, I bought it." Oliver says.

 _Lian Yu -Slade's Plane._

 _"_ _We have to do something, that crazy, psychopath, has Ollie and it's all my fault!" Sara says pacing back and forth in the fuselage they have called home since being stranded on the island._

 _"_ _It's not your fault Sara, you can't blame yourself for what happened." Shado says attempting to comfort the friend she has come to see as a little sister._

 _"_ _But he was only captured because he was defending me, if I had been paying attention to my surroundings more they never would have found me." she says voice full of self-loathing._

 _"_ _You can't be so hard on yourself Sara, none of us expected for anyone else to be on the island after we got rid of Fyers and his men." Slade Wilson says._

 _"_ _Regardless, he has Ollie and when Ollie doesn't tell him what he wants like we all know he won't because he's so damn stubborn what the hell do you think is gonna happen to him? We should go find Ivo and trade the hozen for Ollie." she says searching frantically around the plane for the small arrow head shaped object._

 _"_ _That would work, except that once we give him the hozen we have no bargaining chip, and are no longer of any use to him so he'll have nothing stopping him from shooting us all in the head. We are no good to the kid if we're dead." Slade says._

 _"_ _So, you'll help me get him back?" Sara asks._

 _"_ _Of course, we'll help you get him back. Never abandon a fellow soldier to the hands of the enemy." Slade replies._

 _"_ _You consider Oliver a fellow soldier? I thought in your opinion he was a lost cause with no hope of becoming anything even close to resembling someone who might one day be able to fight." Sara points out._

 _"_ _Yeah you did say something to that effect Slade." Shado supplies helpfully._

 _"_ _If you tell him what I'm about to say I'll deny it, but the kid isn't a total waste of space." Slade says gruffly._

 _"_ _Wow, Slade, should I be worried that you're going to steal Ollie from me?" Sara jokes._

 _"_ _I think you should be, Slade saying Ollie's not a total waste of space is just a few steps down from him declaring his undying love. If you're not careful the two of them may run away together and get married." Shado says and the two women share a chuckle._

 _"_ _When you two are done with your giggling, how about we get back to the problem at hand, namely saving the kid before that psychopath kills him." Slade says._

 _"_ _So how do you propose we go about getting him back without getting ourselves killed." Sara asks._

 _"_ _We track them down, wait for the right moment and then attack as one, hopefully taking down most of the guards before surrounding the remaining ones and demanding they return the kid in exchange for their lives." Slade says._

 _"_ _Do you really think they're just going to give us Oliver when we demand it?"_ _Sara asks._

 _"_ _No I don't, but if we just go in there all guns blazing the first thing they're going to do is kill the kid and then all of this will have been in vain."_

 _On the Amazo._

 _"_ _You have a choice in front of you Mr Queen." Anthony Ivo says. "We know the Mirakuru is on this Island, and we know that your friends are in possession of it. What we don't know however is the precise location of your friends or the Mirakuru that's where you come in. You have two options, tell us where your friends are and I will grant you a quick death. Or continue to be uncooperative and we will find them ourselves, at which point I will kill them one by one right in front of you."_

 _"_ _Go ahead and kill me, I am not telling you where my friends are." Oliver spits glaring at the man in front of him a look of pure hatred._

 _"_ _Rest assured Mr Queen, I will grant you your wish and kill you. But due to your unwillingness to cooperate your death will only come after the deaths of your friends." Ivo says._

 _"_ _My friends are not that easy to kill." Oliver replies defiantly._

 _"_ _Well I guess we'll see about that when we find them won't we Mr Queen?" Ivo asks. "Prepare the boats, we're going to the island." he adds to his men._

 _"_ _What about him?" one of the men asks kicking Oliver where he sits tied to a chair._

 _"_ _Knock him out and bring him with us, I want to see the look in his eyes as I kill everyone he cares about." Ivo says._

 _"_ _GO TO HELL YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH!" Oliver snarls._

 _"_ _All in good time Mr Queen, all in good time." The doctor replies before turning away from the younger man and walking out the door._

 _"_ _You heard the boss, what are you waiting for? Hit him over the head and get him onto the inflatable landing craft on the starboard side of the ship." one of the mercenaries, who appears to be a leader of sorts says._

 _"_ _Goodnight Mr Queen" Oliver hears before being hit over the head with what feel like a plank of wood and falling to the ground unconscious._

 _Somewhere on the island._

 _"_ _There are eight mercenaries, plus Oliver and the doctor. Four guarding Oliver and the doctor, and four taking up flanking positions, two in front and two behind. We should try and take those three out of play before engaging the rest." Slade explains to Shado and Sara in a low voice as the three of them watch Ivo and his men dragging a semi-conscious Oliver through the jungle._

 _"_ _When you say 'take those three out of play' what exactly do you mean by that?" Sara asks._

 _"_ _Shoot them." Slade says simply. "Three against four is a lot more manageable than three against eight."_

 _"_ _Three against nine you mean, the doctor might not be a mercenary but he's clearly a lunatic and a psychopath, he's not going to let us take Oliver back without a fight." Shado points out._

 _"_ _Well then it would be four against nine, Ollie isn't one to sit out of a fight, even if he can barely stand on his own two feet." Sara says a little sadly._

 _"_ _Kid's stubborn, doesn't back down when someone he cares about is being threatened." Slade comments._

 _"_ _Wow Slade, did you just compliment Ollie? Are you feeling ok?" Sara jokes._

 _"_ _I give credit where credits due. Kid's come a long way from the pitiful playboy he was when we first met." Slade says._

 _"_ _He did withstand Wintergreens torture though." Shado reminds the Australian._

 _"_ _Yes he did, but I didn't know about that at the time. I didn't know him at all, he was just a stranger who wondered into my plane, and he had little to no fighting skills." Slade says. "I didn't really trust him until you came back from your wood gathering expedition and practically jumped him right then and there."_

 _"_ _I never heard this story, why did I never hear this story?" Shado demands looking from one to the other questioningly._

 _"_ _Ollie and I got separated when he was captured by Fyers men, I tried to go after them but Yao Fei refused to let me and sent me off to find Slade instead. So anyway long story short I found Slade convinced him I was friendly and we spent a few days together in the plane waiting for Ollie and Yao Fei to return, on the third of fourth day I was out collecting wood for the fire while Slade played with his swords in the plane." Sara begins._

 _"_ _I was not playing with my swords, I don't play with my swords. I was honing my skills." Slade protests._

 _"_ _Hey I don't see you jumping in to tell her the story, if you don't like the way I'm telling it by all means takeover." Sara says._

 _"_ _Maybe I will." Slade responds._

 _"_ _Will one of you please tell me the rest of it? You Sara, were out collecting wood, and you Slade were in the plane honing your skills with the sword." Shado prompts._

 _"_ _I was on the plane and had just finished practicing a few moves with my sword, and this stranger walked in, covered in dirt so naturally I went on the defensive. He started babbling about how Yao Fei sent him to help blah blah blah anyway I was just debating whether to kill him when Sara comes in carrying a load of wood, and upon seeing the stranger drops said wood and launches herself at him with a squeal of what I'm assuming was happiness. She then proceeded to yell at him for scaring her before the two of them mentally scarred me for life when they started kissing and ripping each-others' clothes off." Slade says._

 _"_ _Well I was happy to see him, I thought he was dead." Sara explains. "And when the love of your life comes back from the dead, even if they weren't really dead you have to make the most of it."_

 _"_ _So are we going to be subjected to a similar display of affection when we rescue the kid from the crazy doctor?" Slade asks._

 _"_ _I'm gonna lie to you Slade, that is a possibility." Sara says._

 _"_ _God help us all." Slade mutters picking up his sword and making his way out of the plane without another word._

 _"_ _I would pay to see his reaction to you and Oliver making out right in front of him." Shado says with a sly smile._

 _"_ _You'd pay to see your boyfriend uncomfortable?" Sara asks._

 _"_ _Sure, why not?" Shado replies with a shrug. "He's always so unflappable, nothing ever gets to him, face down a squadron of crazed gunmen? No problem. Take on a crazed lunatic who wants to blow up a plane and start world war three? No problem. But you and Oliver kissing….that he can't handle? I have to see that in person."_

 _"_ _Well when you put it like that how can I possibly refuse?" Sara says._

 _"_ _Oh yeah because it's going to be such a chore for you to kiss your boyfriend." Shado says sarcastically._

 _"_ _Yes I know, but you're like a sister to me, and I will do anything to ensure those I love are happy." Sara jokes back._

 _"_ _You know I'm gonna tell Oliver you said that." Shado says._

 _"_ _You tell Ollie that and I'll tell Slade you put me up to making out with Oliver in front of him." Sara counters._

 _"_ _You've come a long way from the Sara I first met, that Sara would have begged me not to say anything to Ollie. But now here you are, just a few weeks later coming up with a plan that ensures our mutual destruction. Well played Sara Lance, well played." Shado says._

 _"_ _What are you two still doing in there? Having a tea party? Get a move on, if we want to save the kid we've got to find him first and that could take a while in this God forsaken jungle." Slade's voice says from outside the plane._

 _"_ _We should join him before he goes to rescue Oliver by himself." Sara says._

 **A/N: Thanks for reading guys! Hope you enjoyed chapter three. Please let me know what you think, I have started working on the next chapter and will hopefully be posting within the next week.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four.:

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of it's characters or locations. They belong to DC comics.**

 **A/N: Hey guys, here's the new chapter. Sorry it took so long to get it out, we've been short staffed at work so I've been working extra hours and haven't had much time to write. But here's the new chapter finally! Let me know what you think.**

The following morning, Sara and Oliver's' apartment Starling City.

"Good morning, did you sleep well? You're the first guest we've had here I hope the room was to your liking?" Sara asks as Ana walks into the kitchen and takes a seat at the table.

"Well you can rest assured that the room leaves nothing to be desired, private bathroom with a jacuzzi, complimentary bath robe, slippers, and bags delivered to your door, are you sure this isn't a luxury hotel?" Ana asks.

"We just want our guests to be comfortable." Sara says.

"You've definitely achieved that goal, if anything you've done too good a job of making the room comfortable, you may find that your guests reluctant to leave. I'm considering moving in permanently myself." she says.

"You know you're welcome to stay as long as you want too right? You're family, as far as Ollie and I are concerned this place is your home as long as you want it to be, you want coffee? I was about to brew some." Sara asks.

"Coffee would be great." Ana responds. "Speaking of Oliver, I haven't seen him this morning, don't tell me he's still asleep?"

"Oliver? No he's not asleep, actually I don't know where he is. He was gone when I woke up, probably went to play with the salmon ladder or something, I swear he loves that thing almost as much has he loves me…maybe more." Sara replies with a wry smile.

"The salmon ladder? At 7am on a Sunday? Is he crazy?" Ana asks.

"Probably, but if his craziness manifests itself in a mild obsession with the salmon ladder I for one am not going to complain. Although it can be somewhat distracting when he's using it while I'm trying to train." she says.

"So have you and Oliver talked much about the future?" Ana asks.

"By day we're focusing on settling back into life in Starling city, reconnecting with our family and friends, getting used to being in the spotlight, well Ollie's used to it…or was…it's all still pretty new to me. But if being the subject of gossip columnists and celebrity bloggers is the price I have to pay to be with him I am more than willing to pay it. He's definitely worth a few cringeworthy pictures…even I they are online for everyone to see." Sara says.

"I refuse to believe any of the photos of you are 'cringeworthy', and even if there were some Oliver would beat the living daylights out of anyone who dared to say anything even remotely negative about you. But your vigilante goals are not what I was referring to when I asked about your future." Ana says.

"Then what were you referring to?" Sara asks.

"Well I was wondering if you two had ever discussed the 'm' word." Ana replies.

"Money? It's come up once or twice, I think that's part of the reason he opened Verdant, to make some money on his own, so that he isn't solely dependent on his trust fund." Sara says.

"Not that 'm' word. The other one. The one that rhymes with carriage, and traditionally requires a white dress, a priest, vows, a church, flower and rings." Ana says.

"Marriage? No, we haven't really discussed it. Not properly anyway. I mean it's come…once or twice, usually either really late at night when we're on a stake-out looking for one of the scum-bags from the list or when we're drunk." Sara replies softly.

"So it's something you both want?" Ana asks.

"If you'd asked me that a few years ago…I would have said no right away. Before the gambit, I never thought I was the marrying type, I just figured I'd have a string of meaningless relationships with guys that didn't really care about me. The one guy I actually thought I might have any genuine feelings for was dating my sister and Laurel was the golden girl, all the guys wanted her, all the girls wanted to be her, she could do no wrong and then there's me. The screw up little sister, always getting into trouble, never sticking with anything. Who in there right mind would want to be with that girl when they could be with the prom queen who wanted to become a lawyer and save the world?" Sara says.

"And now?" Ana asks quietly.

"Now? I can't think of anything better than one day being Mrs Queen, and that's all thanks to Oliver." Sara replies.

"Have you told him that?" Ana asks.

"Not in so many words. But he knows how I feel. He told me I was crazy to ever think that all I was destined for is meaningless relationships. That some guy was bound to fall in love with me, and want to spend the rest of his life making me happy" Sara says "Then he immediately followed that up by saying if that were ever to happen he'd rip said guy's head off and hurl it off the top of the Space Needle."

"Classic Ollie, equal parts charm and violent tendencies. That's probably why both Ra's and Anatoli are so eager to have him as part of their organisations. I don't know anyone else who could convince Anatoli that aligning himself with the League is a good idea, and I don't know Ra's that well but I doubt he's easily swayed into forming allegiances with other criminal outfits." Ana says.

"You'd be right in that assumption. The League isn't one for forming allegiances." Sara confirms.

"Which goes to show how much faith they both have in Oliver. Plus, the fact that he's one the highest ranked non-Russian members possibly ever, and definitely the only former playboy billionaire." Ana says. "And definitely the highest-ranking member who couldn't speak a word of Russian when he started training."

"Also he had the added bonus of being Anatoli's favourite American." Sara adds.

"Yeah, Anatoli might be one of the most feared men I Russia, and doesn't particularly like strangers, but he sometimes makes exceptions, like for example when someone saves him from a mad scientist hell bent on finding a mythical Japanese super-drug that may or may not be hidden on an uninhabited island in the middle of the North China sea."

Abandoned warehouse somewhere in Starling.

"Thank-you for agreeing to meet me on such short notice." Malcom Merlyn says with a smile.

"Anything for a friend." Chien Na Wei says with a smile stepping out of the shadows with two men behind her. "How can The Triad be of service to you Mr Merlyn?"

"I have a proposition for you. One that I am sure will be mutually beneficial for both of us." Malcom says sitting down casually in a chair against the wall and propping his feet up on a discarded bucket.

"Well that sounds intriguing, would you like to tell me more about this proposition of yours?" Wei asks.

"It's quite simple really, I provide you with the necessary funds to expand your little corner of the illegal narcotics trade in The Glades, and you give me forty percent of your profit." Malcom says.

"Merlyn Global moving into the drug trafficking business, is it?" Wei asks.

"No, because the money for this venture of ours will not be coming from the company. It will be coming from my private off-shore account. Let's call it my 'rainy day' fund. One that can't be traced. Should you choose to accept my offer I will pay you up to three million a quarter for your narcotics trade. "

"You're a billionaire Mr Merlyn, clearly you don't need the money, so why are you offering to fund the expansion of my organizations drug empire?" Wei asks.

"My reasons are my own, all you need to know is that I am willing to fund your operations. I know you've been looking to expand I'm willing to invest in that expansion, so the way I see it you have two options, you take my money and start expanding your drug empire, or you leave it and look for other funding options." Merlyn says.

"I'll talk to my associates to discuss the merits of your offer and how it will tie in with our current ventures.." Wei responds.

"I look forward to hearing from you. Call my private number, this deal is off the books so it should be discussed outside of the office." he says.

"I'll be in touch by the end of the week." Wei replies with a bow to the Merlyn magnate.

"I look forward to our new partnership." Malcom says.

"You're very confident Mr Merlyn. I haven't agreed to join your venture yet." Wei says.

"No, you haven't. But I know enough about you and your organization to know that you're smart enough to recognize a golden opportunity when it comes your way. This a golden opportunity, one that will make us both a lot of money, and I'm willing to let you in on the ground level, we'll build our new empire together and spilt the prophets equally. I can even set you up with an untraceable off shore account if you need it." Malcom says.

"I assure Mr Merlyn we are quite capable of acquiring our own off shore accounts. I have another meeting scheduled, but I will be in touch by the end of the week with our decision." Wei says.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading, please leave a review and let me know what you think. The next chapter will be up soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or any of it's characters. They are owned by DC Comics and The CW.**

 **A/N: Here's chapter five, sorry it took so long to get out I've been busy at work and haven't had much time to write.**

 **Random Café/Restaurant Starling City. Morning.**

A young woman sits alone at a table for two, a half-finished cup of coffee sits on the table in front of her. She plays idly with her phone glancing up towards the door every now and then evidently waiting for someone.

"Is this seat taken?" a male voice asks from behind her causing her to start slightly before relaxing into an easy smile and turning to face the person.

"Five years on a deserted island and you're still fashionably late." she says with a smile "It's good to know some things don't change."

"Sorry, Sara and I had an unexpected visit from an old friend we haven't seen in a while and we may have had a few too many drinks at Verdant. I left my bike at the club and got a taxi home, I didn't want to wake Sara up unnecessarily so I had to call another cab to take me to the club and pick up the bike." he replies.

"Relax Ollie, I'm not upset." Thea says smiling at her brother. "And no, the seat isn't taken."

"So have you decided what you want yet? I think I'll get the Huevos Rancheros, I've heard it's good." Oliver says sitting down opposite his sister.

"It is, but I think I'm going have the oatmeal and source the oats locally from an organic farmer, so the money is helping boost the local economy." Thea says.

"Well listen to you sounding all professional. I guess working at CNRI is paying off?" he asks.

"Yeah it's actually a lot more interesting than I thought it would be, everyone's been really welcoming and they haven't even mentioned the fact that I'm only there because of the court appointed community service." she says.

"More fun than smoking crack and robbing banks?" he jokes.

"Well I'm not gonna lie. Both of those things are fun, but I don't really think there's much of a future, and jumpsuits really aren't my style." she jokes back. "But seriously…I should be thanking you."

"For what?" he asks

"For setting up the CNRI thing with Laurel and pretty much forcing me to go along with it. You've always looked out for me, and wanted what's best for me. I know I've kind of been a bitch since you got back…but I hope you know I'm glad you're back, I missed you so much when you were gone. This place wasn't the same without you." she says.

"You've got nothing to thank me for. You're my little sister, I'd do anything for you." he says.

"Yeah I know. You always have. Like back when we were in elementary school and there was a group of boys picking on me at lunch time…pulling my hair and throwing my books on the floor and I wouldn't do anything about I didn't want them to make fun of me for running to the teacher or telling mum and dad. Then one day after school you came to get me like you always did and you saw them picking on me, I told you it was nothing and that you should just let it go. But the next day when I got to school the next day they came up and apologized for being jerks to me. You wouldn't happen to know why they had such a sudden change of heart would you?" she asks.

"I assure you, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. I absolutely did not find those two miscreants and threaten to duct tape them to the flag pole wearing nothing but pink tutus if they didn't apologize to you as soon as they saw you." Oliver says.

"Wow, no wonder they apologized. Would you really have done that? Taped them to the flag pole in tutus?" Thea asks.

"Of course Speedy, if it meant they stopped giving you a hard time. Like I said, I'd do anything for you, and not only because it's my job as your brother. I love you and if anyone hurts you emotionally, physically or otherwise I will do my best to put a stop to it." he says.

"I love you to Ollie." she replies "How's Sara? Did you make Detective Lance's day a break up?"

"No, I love Sara, you know that, Detective Lance might not believe that but Sara knows I love her and that's really all I care about." He says. "I hope one day he will come to accept us being a couple, but until that time comes I'm not going to bust my gut trying to convince him that I love his daughter and only want what is best for her."

"Well he's an idiot if he can't see how happy the two of you are together. Even Laurel is more accepting of your relationship, and she has more right than anyone to hate the two of you for what you did." she says

"Oh trust me Thea I hate myself for what I did to Laurel. But much as I might like to I can't change the past, I can only strive to be a better person now. Sara and I apologized to Laurel and she forgave us…it was a little dicey there for a while as you probably know, but I think she's happy for us now that it's had time to sink in, at least I hope she is it would be nice to have the blessing of at least one member of Sara's family." he says.

"Well rest assured Ollie, Laurel definitely approves." She says.

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"Yeah, I am totally sure. Just the other day she was saying she's never seen Sara so happy and grounded. Before the Gambit the only thing Sara was really good at was getting into trouble…something you were pretty good at as well if I recall correctly. But now she's back, she has a steady boyfriend, a job at the hottest new night club in town, and she's making an effort to spend time with the family." She says

"Yeah she's matured a lot in the last five years, become the person she always wanted to be, she just never gave herself the chance. I always knew she was going to do amazing things with her life, and she is, she's the strongest person I've ever met and I am so happy that she's letting me come along for the ride. She could do a lot better than the selfish son of Robert and Moira Queen." he says.

"Hey, no self-deprecating before breakfast. You've come a long way in five years too Ollie. The Oliver Queen from before the Gambit would never have started a night club, he'd be too busy running amok inside one. But even back then when you and Tommy were all about partying and getting girls, I knew that I could always count on you. I knew you'd always be there when I needed you, no matter who you were with or what you were doing you'd always have time to help me out when I needed you. Mum and Dad were great and I love them but I would never have survived without you….i mean just look at who I'd become when you came home. I was nothing but party girl." she says.

"Now who's being self-deprecating before breakfast?" he jokes poking his tongue out at her. "In all seriousness thought Thea, you never have been nor will you ever be nothing but a party girl. You're smart, driven, compassionate, loyal and welcoming. Trust me Thea you have a lot going for you, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will accomplish anything you set your mind to." he says.

"Y-you really think all that about me?" Thea asks looking up at her brother with a few tears in her eyes.

"Of course I do, you're an amazing person Thea, and you have an amazing future ahead of you whatever you decide to do with it. Don't ever let anyone tell you different, and if they try send them to me and I'll set them straight." he says. "Ok enough of gooey emotional crap, lets get some food!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Thea says with a chuckle as a tall dark haired woman wearing an apron approaches the table.

"Hello, my name is Abigail and I'll be your server today." she says with a smile. "Are you ready to order or would you like a few more minutes?"

"No, we're ready order thank-you." Oliver says. "I'll have the Huevos Rancheros, and my sister will have the oatmeal."

"Would you like any drinks with that?" Abigail asks.

"Yes please, a macchiato and a double shot cappuccino, both large, with whole milk and no sugar." he says.

"Will that be all for today?" she asks.

"Yes thank-you." he replies.

"I'll go and place your order." she says before heading back towards the waiter station.

"So who is this old friend that came to visit you and Sara?" Thea asks once they are alone again.

"Her name is Ulyana Toya Hjelmstad, but she usually goes by Ana. You'll meet her tomorrow, she's staying with us at the apartment." he replies.

"Did you meet her on the island?" she asks.

"I'll tell you about how we met her later, for now let's just focus on us. We haven't really spent much time together since I got back. Not just the two of us anyway." he says.

"Yeah I was meaning to ask you about that…how did I score a private breakfast with you anyway? Why didn't Sara come? Or Diggle? Isn't mom like paying him to follow you around like a shadow or something?" Thea asks.

"Sara's at home, I wanted this morning to just be us, you're my sister Thea and no matter who I am with you will always be in my life no matter what. Sara understands that because she is the same with Laurel so if there are occasions when either of us want to spend some time with our sisters we are mutually understanding of that." he says.

"When you say 'no matter who I am with' that's pretty much just gonna be Sara right? You said it yourself you love her, and that would kinda indicate that you see a future with her." she says.

"Put it this way a future where Sara is not a part of my life is not a future I want to be a part of. I can't imagine living the rest of my life without her." he says.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Thea asks.

"Well that depends. What do you think I'm saying?" he counters.

"That one day Sara will be Mrs Oliver Queen, and my new sister in law?" she says.

"How would you feel about that?" Oliver asks.

"Well it's really not about me Ollie, it's about you and Sara." she says.

"I know, but your opinion matters to me, and ideally I would like my wife and sister to get along, it would make family dinners and special occasions slightly awkward if you and her were secretly plotting each-others demise." he says.

"There's little chance of that, I love Sara, she's always treated me like an equal and not just an annoying little kid. Do you remember that day I fell off the monkey bars at school and broke my arm, and they had to come get you out of your class because I wouldn't let the nurse touch me.?" she asks.

"I'll never forget that day, you were so scared I didn't know what to do to help you." he repiles.

"Sara's the one that found me. She made them go and get you. They kept trying to make her go back to class but she refused until they finally sent someone to go and get you." she says.

"Why did I never know about this?" he asks.

"Because she asked me not to tell you. I think she had a thing for you, along with around 85% of the girls at our school, even some of the girls in my year had a crush it was kinda creepy…they'd come up to me and ask me what it was like to Oliver Queen's sister." she says.

"What did you tell them?" he asks.

"Usually I just ignored them." she says.

"Yeah I probably would have done the same thing had our roles been reversed." he admits.

 **Sara and Oliver's' Apartment**

"You wanna go for a walk? I can give you a tour of the neighborhood, maybe get coffee somewhere." Sara says putting the last of the breakfast dishes away after washing them.

"You don't want to wait for Oliver?" Ana asks.

"I'll leave him a note so he knows where we went. But we won't be gone very long so chances are we'll get back before he does." Sara replies.

"Well in that case yes, I would love to go for a walk. I feel like I haven't had a chance to properly stretch my legs in ages. Being cooped up in a plane is all well and good but it does get a little tedious after the first fourteen hours or so." Ana says.

"Fourteen hours? I thought the flight from Moscow to LA was only 12 hours?" Sara says.

"It is, but I flew from Baku in Azerbaijan, which including the two-hour stopover in Frankfurt took around 18 and a half hours." Ana says "and then I had to catch a train, a bus and a taxi to get here, so all in all I have spent more than enough time inside various modes of transportation of late."

"What were you doing in Azerbaijan?" Sara asks.

"We got a tip that someone who owed us money was hiding out there under a false name. So I went to investigate and collect the debt." she says.

"How'd that work out? Did you get the money?" Sara asks.

"Of course I did darling, you know me, I never leave a place until the job is done. He was a little reluctant to pay up at first, but then I remembered a similar situation with Oliver. The guy didn't take Ollie seriously when he said he worked for Anatoli, so Ollie had to find a way to er motivate him to pay up." Ana says.

"Oh God, and how exactly did Oliver motivate the guy? Or am I better off not knowing?" she asks.

"He may or may not have arranged for a replica of his car to be delivered to his home crushed beyond repair…along the with the number plate and a video of the car being crushed." Ana says.

"Ollie crushed the guys car?" Sara asks incredulously.

"No, no he just crushed one that was the same make and model, it was due for scrap anyway so he just paid off someone at the wreckers yard, picked up the car after it was crushed and swapped it out for the real car while the guy was out at lunch." Ana says.

"That's actually really smart. I don't think I would have come up with that…I probably would just beat the guy till he paid up." she says.

"Well that was his next option. But despite what the general public might believe the Bratva only resort to violence as a last resort, usually verbal persuasion and the power of suggestion are enough to make people comply with our wishes." Ana says.

"Which is the total opposite of the League's 'take no prisoners' philosophy. It's really makes you wonder how the two have managed to keep up their alliance for so long." Sara says.

"That in no small part is thanks to Oliver and his uncanny knack for charming people who are notoriously hard to charm." Ana says. "Like I said before, Anatoli doesn't tolerate outsiders and Ra's might have a lot of members at his beck and call but only a select few are allowed into the inner circle, Olive managed to gain not only Anatoli's trust and respect but Ra's as well."

"I may be a little biased in saying this, but in my opinion it's pretty hard not to like Oliver. He just seems to draw people in, even if they're determined that forming connections with people is nothing but a weakness that should be avoided at all costs." Sara says.

"Slade?" Ana asks.

"Yeah." Sara replies with a chuckle "when we first met him he was adamant that he would not form any kind of friendship with us, that our partnership was purely business. We were a means to an end and nothing else. He actually managed to keep that up for a little while, but eventually he softened towards us Oliver in particular…I think the turning point came when Ollie beat a man to death with a rock because he'd tried to hurt Shado. That was when Slade saw that fierce protective side of Oliver, the one that will do anything in his power to save those he loves and care about."

"Wait, Ollie beat a guy to death with a rock?" Ana demands "when the hell did this happen?"

"I can't remember exactly but we got ambushed in the woods, one of the men grabbed Shado and was quite obviously trying to hurt her, before Slade or I could react Oliver charged the guy picked up a rock and bashed him in the head with it. Shado got away almost immediately after the first blow but Oliver didn't stop until Slade yelled his name. By which point the man was very dead and his buddies had all disappeared." Sara says.

"Wow, I guess that was the first time you all realized Oliver is not someone you want to underestimate" she comments.

"It was for Shado and Slade, but I always knew Ollie had that protective nature, he'd shown it multiple times with Thea not to the same extent but you know what I mean. He's always had that side of his personality that wants to stand up to the bully and help the underdog." Sara says.

"Is that what attracted you to him?" she asks.

"That was part of it. But what attracted me most was that he was off limits. He was dating my sister, and my father hated him. Five years ago I was all about doing things I knew I shouldn't be doing with people I knew I shouldn't be with." Sara says. "That's another thing Oliver and I have in common, trouble had a way of finding us and we had absolutely no problem with that. In fact we reveled in it."

"So is that part of the reason Detective Lance doesn't like Ollie? Does he maybe think that Oliver encouraged your delinquent behavior or that maybe you were acting out to impress him?" Ana asks.

"I think that is part of it yeah, he'd never admit that though. Every time I bring up the subject of Oliver all my dad can say is that 'he's just a stuck up spoiled brat who knows nothing about how the world works' what annoys me most is that while his statement might have been true five years ago it definitely isn't now, but he won't even give Ollie a chance to prove that." Sara says frustrated.

"Maybe you should get Anatoli to pay him a visit, he'd sing Olivers praises from the rooftops." Ana says.

"Yeah not sure that would go over to well, don't get me wrong I love Anatoli but somehow I don't think the word of one of the most powerful members of the Bratva would impress my father all that much." Sara says.

"I guess the same would be true for Ra's then?" Ana responds.

"Yeah leader of a group of internationally renowned assassins wouldn't get much credibility with him either." Sara says.

"Well even if he can't accept Oliver as the great person he is, he's gonna have to accept him being in your life, because I have a sneaking suspicion that he's gonna be in it for quite a while yet." Ana comments

"He is if I have anything to say about it. But I don't want to live the rest of my life with my father hating the love of my life, I love them both too much for that. Ollie puts on a good front but I know he knows it bothers me and that in turn bothers him. I'm just afraid that if my father continues to treat him like he's a waste of space he's gonna break things off because he doesn't want to come between dad and I." Sara says

"Ollie wouldn't do that." Ana says.

"He would if he thought it was what's best for me. You know Oliver, he takes on the weight of the world, and feels guilty for all the bad things that happen in the lives of the people he loves, I think in his mind on some level he still blames himself for everything I went through on the island and off because he invited me to get on the Gambit with him." Sara says.

"I thought you'd convinced him isn't the case" Ana says.

"Well I have. Mostly…I think. But my dad blames him, and has told him so on multiple occasions, as well as telling him he broke Laurels heart, put his mother through hell and drove his sister to drugs and underage drinking." Sara says.

"He said all that to Ollie?" Ana asks.

"Yeah, it was not long after we got back, Ollie and I had gone out for dinner and we got abducted by some goons who wanted to know if Robert said anything before he died. Ollie broke free of his zip-cuffs and took them all out single handed, then released me. My dad was one of the cops assigned to the case and he was upset which is understandable considering the circumstances, but it didn't give him the right to lay all of that guilt on Ollie." Sara says.

"I can't imagine the Queens were happy with that." Ana comments.

"No they weren't. Not at all. Moira told them to get out of her house and she would have done a lot more than that if Ollie hadn't convinced her that it wasn't worth pursuing." Sara says. "You should have seen her she was ready to have him kicked of the force. Thea was livid, she called my dad a 'sanctimonious prick with an over inflated ego and a badge' and told Ollie that the day he came home all her prayers of the last five years were answered, that she didn't blame him in the slightest and that she's just really happy to have him home."

 **A few days later Verdent, the lair.**

Felicity is sitting in front of her computers quietly searching for anything she can find on Ana, still not entirely sure that she can trust the new addition to the team. The way she just sauntered in to the lair and immediately had the complete trust of both Oliver and Sara not sitting well with the IT girl. "It's not normal!" she growls in frustration pushing her seat back and running her hands through her hair.

"What isn't normal?" Diggle asks from where he is sitting in front of the cabinet holding Olivers bow. The two are waiting for Oliver, Sara and Ana to return from their latest reconnaissance mission to find out information about what Malcom Merlyn could possibly want from the Triad.

"Ana. If that's even her real name. Which I doubt because there is absolutely no trace of her online. I can always find people online, no matter who they are or how powerful and well connected there's always something on the internet. I've been looking for days now and can't even find so much as a photo of her!" the blonde replies. "I'm telling you Dig there's something dodgy about her"

Diggle shrugs his shoulders "I don't know, she seems fine to me. I mean I wasn't too keen on her to begin with, but that was mainly because she just turned up out of the blue knowing everything about us and our operations down here."

"What so now you trust her? She gives us her name and some vague story about meeting Oliver and Sara during the last five years and she's just automatically in the inner circle?" she asks.

"Sara and Oliver haven't exactly been a fountain of information about their time away either." Diggle points out.

Felicity opens her mouth to respond but is interrupted by the sound of feet coming down the stairs. "It's only me." Ana says coming into view as she descends the staircase and making her way to the weapons cabinet where she off loads her bow, quiver and katana before removing her mask and hood. Is there any water down here? Chasing down Triad members is thirsty work."

"Yeah there's a few bottles in the bar fridge by the Salmon Ladder." Diggle says pointing in that general direction. "So did you find out any more about what our favorite fortune five hundred CEO is up to?" he asks.

"No, the guy I was interrogating knew nothing, he's just a low-level foot soldier. Maybe Oliver and Sara had more luck, have you heard from them? We split up a couple of hours ago to cover more ground." she says, grabbing a bottle of water and taking a long swig. "How are things on your end? Have you had any luck trawling through Merlyn Global?"

"I'll give my findings to Oliver." Felicity snips refusing to look at the other woman.

"What's your…fine, whatever. You do whatever you think's best." Ana replies.

"Oh I should do what's best? Wow, thanks, I never could have figured that out for myself." Felicity says.

"Is there a problem here? Because it kinda seems like you hate me." Ana says.

"Why would I hate you? I don't even know you, I don't know anything about you. No one seems to know anything about you, not the government, or Interpol, the feds, not even international governments.

"I don't know anything about you either but unlike you I am willing to trust you because my friend does, and if my friend trusts someone that is good enough for me. If you're not willing to extend me the same courtesy then perhaps it's because you don't trust Oliver and Sara even after they trusted you with their biggest secret, one that haven't even told their families about. I don't know about you Miss Smoak, but if that is the case and your reasons for not trusting me stem from not trusting them well that says a hell of a lot more about you and your character than it does me and mine now doesn't it?" Ana says before turning and walking out of the foundry without a backward glace.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter let me know what you think.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or any of it's characters. They belong to DC Entertainment.**

 **A/N: Thanks for your patience guys! Here's the new chapter. Hope you like it.**

Verdant basement, same day as previous chapter.

Felicity Smoak gapes open mouthed at the stairs unable to utter a word as she watches the dark-haired woman beating her hasty retreat into the club above. A few minutes of silence pass before the blonde eventually closes her mouth and turns to glance at her companion, "what the hell is her problem?" she demands.

"Well you haven't exactly been very welcoming towards her." Dig points out.

"Oh so now you're taking her side? We don't know anything about her John! How can we trust someone we know nothing about?" she asks.

"Look I'll admit that she didn't exactly make the best first impression, but since then she hasn't done anything that suggests she's here to cause trouble." he says.

"Maybe she's biding her time, lulling us all into a false sense of security so that when she does make her move we won't be expecting it." she suggests not sounding very convinced of her own theory.

"Do you really think that's the case?" Diggle asks.

"Yes!" she snaps. "Ok well…no, not really. But you have to admit it's a little suspicious that we can't find anything about her on the internet or in any government data bases."

"But that doesn't necessarily make her a bad person." he points out.

"I should get back to seeing what I can find out about this Undertaking thing." she says in a clear attempt to change the subject.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and get a drink, can I get you anything?" he asks making his way across the room to the stairs.

"Could you bring down some peanuts or potato chips or something? Oliver has that kind of thing doesn't he?" she asks.

"I'm sure I can find something." he says with a smile before disappearing up the stairs.

"Thanks John you're the best" she calls after him before turning back to her computer and tapping away at the keys.

The glades. Same time.

"Tell me who your supplier is" demands The Arrow through the voice modulator while pointing an arrow at the man in front of him.

"I don't know anything man, I swear. I just sell the stuff. I don't know the suppliers." the guys says.

"Suppliers? So there's more than one?" the Canary asks from beside her partner.

"What? I don't know, maybe? Look I already told you I don't know nothing about no supplier. I just pick up my load from drop box every week and put the money back there after I'm done. I've never met her or any of the others!" he mutters.

"Oh so it's her now is it? I thought you said you didn't know anything." The Arrow says taking a few steps towards the guy, arrow still aimed at his head.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." He says "c-can you point that thing somewhere else? I swear to you I don't know nothing about the suppliers or where they get their drugs from."

"Stop lying to me!" The Arrow snarls moving his hand slightly to the left and releasing the arrow so it imbeds itself in the pillar centimeters from the guys head.

"W-what's your problem man? Y-you could have killed me!" the drug dealer says a hint of anger creeping into his tone.

"Tell me who your supplier is or the next one goes through your leg"

"I'd tell him what he wants to know if I was you. He hate's being lied to, and trust me you really don't want one of those arrows through your leg." The Canary says.

"I'm not telling your crazy boyfriend nothing!" the dealer says.

"Well then you're of no more use to me." The Arrow says nocking another arrow and drawing back on the bowstring so fast even the Canary doesn't catch the movement.

"No! No! Wait! Don't kill me! Please! I'll tell you everything you want to know just…just put that thing away!" the dealer blurts out.

"Make it quick." The Arrow says lowering his bow but not removing the arrow.

"I don't know much ok. All I know is she works for the Chinese Triad and they're trying to expand their drug empire here in the glades. There's a rumour going around that she has a new financial backer but I don't if there's any truth to it and I don't know who it is." The dealer says.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" the Arrow asks.

"Can I go now?" the dealer asks.

"Just one last thing." The Canary says. "Don't tell anyone about this meeting, continue going about your daily business, if you do tell anyone, anyone at all we'll know about it and my friend will come back and put an Arrow through your skull."

"I won't tell anyone I swear." he says.

"Then you're free to go." The Arrow says closing the distance between them and pulling out a knife.

"B-but you said I was free to go!" he says eying the knife warily.

Ignoring the man in front of him Oliver reaches up and cuts the ropes binding his arms to the post, then kneels and does the same to the one binding his feet before pocketing the knife before turning and retreating with Sara following close behind.

"Did you see his face after you fired that first arrow? I thought he was going to shit himself." Sara chuckles in her normal voice once they've put a few blocks between them and the drug dealer.

"I knew he was lying to me, and thought he needed a little more persuasion to open up." Oliver responds wrapping an arm around her as they walk back towards where they left his bike earlier.

"Well you're very persuasive." she says coming to a stop in front of the Ducati.

"I do what I can." he says bending down and pressing his lips to hers in a short but sweet kiss.

"And I love watching you do it." she says pulling him back in for another kiss. "We should get back and share our new information with the others. Ana should be back at Verdant by now, probably waiting for us to get back so she can tell us what she found out."

Merlyn Global parking garage, night.

Malcom Merlyn exits the elevator and walks slowly towards his car which is parked on the opposite wall of the structure reaching into his pocket to retrieve the keys as he does so. Suddenly footsteps are heard and within seconds he finds himself surrounded by men armed with swords, all of which are being pointed in his direction, Malcom hastily bends down and grabs the concealed weapon he keeps strapped to his leg at all times and standing back up to point it at the nearest intruder.

"Relax Mr Merlyn they have orders not to harm you. I just brought them as a precaution." Chien Na Wei says stepping out of the shadows flanked by two Triad members armed with automatic weapons.

"I told you not to come to the office Miss Wei. Our business has nothing to do with my company and I mean to keep it that way." he says.

"Well it's been a week since you pitched your business proposition to me and my organization and if I recall correctly you requested that we get back to you within that time frame so I am here to inform you of our decision." she replies.

"Ok, and what's wrong with using a phone?" he asks.

"Phone calls can be traced, considering the nature of the business you're asking us to partner with you on my colleagues and I thought it would be best to conduct our meetings face to face. But we came after hours so that our meeting wouldn't be overheard or interrupted by any of your employees" she explains.

"Caution is a necessary thing with an undertaking like the one I proposed to you. Has your organization come to a decision on your involvement?" he asks.

"We have, and we have decided that your business proposition is something we would like to invest in. We do however have some rules." she says.

"And I am more than happy to work with you to ensure the operation goes smoothly for both of us." he says.

"Our rules are quite simple, if we go through with this business partnership of yours. Firstly and this is non-negotiable, we keep all proceeds from our drug sales, you don't a cut you supply us with the appropriate level of funding to expand our empire and in return we help you with your…extermination plans." she says.

"Done. Is there anything else?" he asks.

"Just one more rule. If you betray us to any of our enemies or any branch law enforcement we will kill you, then we will kill anyone who shares your DNA. You have two children Mr Merlyn is that correct? Thomas and Thea if I'm not mistaken." she says.

"H-how do you know about Thea?" he demands.

"I never do business with someone I don't know Mr Merlyn. Our people are very resourceful, so if you're keeping secrets that will harm us we will find out and you will pay the price." Chien Na Wei responds with a smile. "If you can comply with these rules we're in business. If not well, we'll part ways on good terms and you'll have to find someone else to assist you in this venture of yours."

"There'll be no need for that. I accept your terms and look forward to our partnership, I have the utmost confidence that it will be a profitable one for both parties." he says with a smile.

"We'll get started on our end of the deal as soon as we receive the funding." she says. "I am curious about one thing though."

"Oh yes? And what is that?" he asks curiously.

"When you proposed our partnership at our last meeting, you said that you wanted to be cut in for 40% of the profits of our drug sales, and yet you just agreed to my terms where you get none of the profits. Why is that?" she asks.

"As I told you at our last meeting, my reasons for pursuing this line of business are my own, but I will tell you this; monetary gain doesn't even come close to being one of those reasons. So you and your organization can keep all the profits of your drug trade as long as sales continue to rise." he says.

"I'm happy with that and I'm sure my business partners will be as well. How would you like us to keep in touch? I'm assuming if you don't want us coming to the office we should avoid using any phones that could be connected to Merlyn Global or is associates" she says.

"You assume correctly. I took the liberty of purchasing a couple of burner phones, one for me and one for you, I'll contact you when you have the money and arrange a time to make the drop, I was thinking maybe once a month, but we'll change up times, date's and drop locations to make it harder for anyone to cotton onto what we're doing." he says.

"Very good, and when can we expect the first instalment?" she asks.

"Right now." he says handing her a briefcase. "I'll text you the unlock code in an hour."

Verdant basement, same time.

"There's nothing online about The Undertaking that we don't already know." Felicity sighs in frustration. "What is wrong with me!? First I can't find anything about Ana and now I can't find anything about The Undertaking."

"I'm not really surprised there's nothing about The Undertaking on the web, from what we do know it's not exactly something the people behind it are going to want to get out, and if it's online it can be found." Diggle says.

"Hopefully Oliver and Sara have had more luck then because I've got pretty much nothing!" she says.

"There's one thing we need to discuss before they get back." he says.

"Really? What's that?" Felicity asks.

"Ana, they're going to notice her absence, how do you plan on explaining why she's not here?" he asks.

"Do we have to explain it? They'll probably just think she hasn't returned from her reconnaissance mission yet." she says.

"And what if they as if we know where she is?" he asks.

"Tell them we don't know." she suggests.

"So we're just gonna brush over the whole incident before?" he asks.

"What incident? Her storming out of here because she can't handle a couple of innocent questions? Really if that's the way she's going to react whenever anyone asks her a question then maybe we're better off without her. Things were going perfectly well before she came along and i'm sure they'll go perfectly well once she's gone." she says.

"I don't think she's going anywhere any time soon Felicity." Diggle says gently.

"But didn't she just come here to help them stop The Undertaking? Surely she's gonna go back to wherever it is she's from when they're done with this thing." she says.

"Sure stopping The Undertaking is what brought her here initially, but I think the main reason for her coming here was to see Oliver and Sara, something happened during those five years that forged a tight bond between the three of them. I don't know what it was, and we may never know, but the kind of bond they share….it only comes through facing a situation where any given minute could be your last on this earth." he says. "They trust each other absolutely, it reminds me of the way I am with the guys from my unit in the army."

"You're comparing Oliver, Sara and Ana to a military unit?" Felicity asks perplexed. "they were stranded on an island for five years I don't think that constitutes a war zone."

"Oliver took me down in minutes the first time we fought, we've been working together for months and I still haven't managed to best him in hand to hand combat. I was trained by the military, they don't call it boot camp for no reason, their aim is to push you to breaking point and see if you can keep going, because when you're out there on the front lines the only thing standing between you and the pearly white gates is the guys in your unit and your own determination to survive. They have to push you to breaking point, because if you can't handle boot camp there is no way in hell you'll survive in battle." he says.

"Before Oliver…when was the last time you lost a fight to a civilian?" she asks.

"Probably eight years ago. I was on medical leave from the army for a few months, I took a mortar round to the leg and had to take time out of active duty to recover. I came home to Starling City so I could spend the time with family and friends. Anyway one night my brother and I went out to the pub with some friends for a few drinks and a couple of games of snooker, I had a few to many drinks and accidentally bumped into another patron. He thought I'd done it on purpose, threw a punch which I dodged one thing lead to another and I woke up in hospital the next morning with bruised ribs and a black eye." he says.

"You got into a bar fight? You ex-military, always in control, practically un-flappable John Diggle got into a bar fight?" she asks.

"Yes Felicity, I got into a bar fight, I'm not proud of it, but I'm not gonna deny it either. I was stupid and drank more than I should have and I payed the price. I'm just lucky that the injuries I sustained weren't more serious, I found out later that the guy I got into the fight with was amateur MMA fighter, so I could have ended up with a lot worse than a couple of bruised ribs." he says.

"What's MMA?" she asks

"Mixed martial arts, as the name suggests the fighters are trained in multiple forms of martial arts, in this case it was Jiu-jitsu, Taekwondo, Karate and Krav Maga." he says.

"That doesn't sound like a sport I'd like to watch." she says.

"Do you watch any sports Felicity?" he asks

"Well no, but that's not the point. If I was going to watch sports, fighting is not one that I would watch. I do watch the Olympics when it's on, and I used to watch ballroom dancing with my mum but I've always been more interested in factual programs that sports, especially I.T. type shows and science based ones, like Mythbusters I love Mythbusters, Adam and Jaime are awesome. When I was in college I thought about applying for a job on that show." she says.

"Why didn't you?" he asks.

"I always liked working with computers so when I graduated I looked for jobs that involved computers. There were jobs available in the IT department at Queen Consolidated. I applied and was offered an entry level position with the possibility for promotion after two years, the position paid reasonably well and didn't require me to move interstate." she says.

"And QC is happy to have you." Oliver says entering the basement followed closely by Sara. "We have a big problem. The Triad has a new financial backer, someone with deep pockets and no morals who is paying for the expansion of their drug trade in The Glades."

"The Triad? Like from China that Triad? They're the ones selling drugs in the Glades?" Felicity asks.

"They're not the only game in town but they have a corner of the market." Oliver says. "But the drugs aren't the problem I was referring to. I have theory that the person behind the Undertaking and the person backing The Triad is one and the same."

"How'd you come up with that?" Diggle asks.

"Whoever is behind The Undertaking has an ax to grind, and they're specifically targeting The Glades which leads me to believe that they want to hurt the people who live there, getting more drugs on the streets is just another way to do that. More drugs sold means more drug related deaths." he says.

"I never would have looked at it like that but when you lay it all out on the table and connect the dots it actually makes a lot of sense." Diggle says. "It also makes me glad you're on our side, not only are you highly skilled in hand to hand combat you've obviously got pretty good analytical skills if you're able to draw connections like the one you just did between The Undertaking and the upsurge in drug sales."

"Rich, attractive and smart, you really are the whole package, aren't you?" Felicity says.

"So to recap we know that The Undertaking is going to be targeting the Glades, we don't know is what it is, when it will be taking place, or who is behind it and what their motivation is for doing so. We need to figure that out sooner rather than later." Oliver says ignoring Felicity's comment.

"Speaking of gaining intel, where's Ana? She should be back by now." Sara comments.

"Haven't seen her." Felicity says exchanging a look with Diggle.

"What are you not telling us?" Oliver demands looking from Felicity to Diggle and back again.

"What do you mean? Why would we be keeping anything from you?" Felicity asks.

"Don't lie to me Felicity, I saw you two exchanging glances just now when Sara asked about Ana." he says.

"She came down here, said she had nothing and then demanded to know what I'd found out. I told her that I would only give my findings to you, she didn't like that answer so she left." Felicity replies.

"That doesn't sound like her, are you sure nothing else happened?" Sara asks.

"Ok fine, so I might have said something about the fact that we don't know anything about her, because according to all the government sites on line she doesn't exist." Felicity replies.

"So, the fact that Sara and I both vouch for her isn't enough for you?" Oliver asks.

"I never said that, but you have to admit, it's a little suspicious that there's absolutely no trace of her anywhere on line." she says.

"There's a reason for that. She grew up in witness protection. She went on holiday with her family when she was five, they got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up in the middle of a shoot-out between two rival gangs. Her whole family including her twin sister were gunned down right in front her, and the men who did threatened her because she was the only one who could ID them." Oliver says. "The reason that there is no information about her online is because there is still a price on her head, 8million dollars to whoever eliminates her and provides the body as proof."

"I—I had no idea." Felicity says.

"No you didn't. But instead of giving her the benefit of the doubt, or trusting Sara and I when we told you she can be trusted you make her feel like she's not welcome." he replies.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea." Felicity says contritely.

"Let's make one thing perfectly clear. Ulyana is family, and if anyone I mean ANYONE has a problem with a member of my family I don't want anything to do with that person. Do I make myself clear?" he says.

"Yes." Felicity replies.

"Good." he says. "How did you go with your search of Merlyn Global?"

"Other than one or two small payments to a company that don't seem to exist there's nothing out of the ordinary." she says.

"What are the names of the companies?" Sara asks.

"I don't know some weird name. Tempest or something like that. But they were only small payments, nothing to raise any real concerns." she replies.

"Ok, well that's all we can do for now. We're gonna head out, see you both tomorrow." Oliver says reaching for Sara's hand and leading her up the stairs and out of the basement.

"Oliver aren't you gonna…." Felicity begins but stops when she realizes the couple have are already out of earshot. "Do you think he realizes he's still wearing his disguise?"

Apartment building, later that night.

"So, which one of us gets to tell Ana that Felicity and John know about her growing up in Witness protection?" Sara asks as she and Oliver ride the elevator up to their apartment.

"I'm the one that told them, I'll tell Ana." he replies. "Are you ok?"

"What do you mean? Of course I'm ok, what makes you think that I'm not?" she asks looking at him confusedly.

"Do you really think I didn't notice the hit you took during the scuffle with that second group of dealers this afternoon." He asks. "The guy in the red bandana with the prison tats, he caught you in the side of the head with his elbow as he was going to hit Ana.

"There was a small hope." she says poking her tongue out at him.

"Well you should know better. When it comes to you nothing escapes my attention." he says "and I'm checking your injury when we get inside, if you turn up to lunch with your father tomorrow with a massive bruise on your face it'll just give him more reason to hate me." he says.

"How did you know I was having lunch with dad?" she asks.

"When are you going to realize babe, I know everything!' he says as they exit the elevator and make their way to the front door of their apartment.

"Yeah right, and the voicemail he left on your machine this morning while you were making breakfast has nothing to do with it." Ana comments from where she is sitting with her back against the door.

"Hey" Sara says running the last few paces and pulling her friend into a tight embrace. "Are you ok? Oliver went all boss man and Felicity and she told us what she said to you, I am so sorry we should have spoken to her before this."

"What are you apologizing for? No harm was done, I just thought it would be best to remove myself before I was tempted to break an escrima stick in her know-it-all face." Ana says.

"That won't be necessary, Felicity and John have both been informed that if they have a problem with you they're no longer welcome." Oliver says joining the girls.

"But they're your friends I don't want you to sacrifice your friendships for me." Ana protests.

"They're friends, you're family, and anyone who has a problem with my family isn't worth my time and energy" he says.

"Well thanks, I appreciate it. And just for the record, I count you as my family too, both of you. My life is so much better since I met you, granted the circumstances of our meeting could have been better, but I don't regret any of the decisions I made on the island or after, and if I could go back and do it all again I would." she says.

"Speaking of family, I have something to tell you." he says not quite looking her in the eye.

"You're finally going to introduce me to your sister?" she asks hopefully.

"Soon I promise, I'll even introduce you to my mother and step-father if you so desire, and I'm sure Sara would be more than happy to introduce you to her family as well." he replies. "but that wasn't what I meant."

"You know you can tell me anything right? I'm not going to think any less of you."

"You might want to hear what I did before you say that." he says.

"No, I don't. You've proven to me time and time again that you're someone I can trust." she says.

"I told Felicity and Diggle about your childhood, how you grew up in witness protection after witnessing the murder of your family." he says. "I'm sorry I know you don't like sharing that with people, but Felicity was saying things about you and I just snapped."

"It's fine, I mean yes I don't like sharing that part of my life, but I know you wouldn't have told them if you didn't deem it necessary. Plus if we're going to be working together I would have had to tell them eventually, this just saves an awkward conversation at a later date so really you were doing me a favor by telling them." she says.

"You're really not mad at me?" he asks.

"No, of course not." she assures him. "Can we go inside now? I don't know about you two but I am in serious need of some sleep."

"Yeah, of course." Sara says fishing her keys out of her pocket and unlocking the door. "You know you could have just let yourself in, that's why we gave you the key. We meant it when we told you to treat this place like it's your own."

"I know, and if I had my key with me I would have let myself in believe me. Unfortunately though I left it in my room this morning and only realized my mistake when I got home about an hour ago." Ana admits sheepishly.

"You should have called or texted, we would have come let you in." Oliver says.

"I didn't want to bother you in the middle of a mission." she says.

"Next time…if there is a next time, please don't hesitate to call ok?" he says with a kind smile.

"Ok." she says returning his smile. "You know if it ever got out that you're so kind and reasonable it might affect your image as the 'emotionless, hostile vigilante' who likes to put the fear of God into people until they talk."

"Don't worry, I'm only kind and reasonable behind closed doors. Usually I'm…did you hear that?" he asks motioning for them to stop moving.

"Hear what?" Ana and Sara ask simultaneously coming to a halt and exchanging confused glances.

"Someone's in here." he says pulling a concealed knife from where he keeps it strapped to his leg. "Stay here, don't move until I give you the all clear." he adds before making his way further into the house constantly scanning in every direction looking for anything that might be out of place.

"We're not really going to let him search the place with no back up are we?" Sara asks looking after him unable to keep the concern from her tone.

"I think it would be best if we do as he requested. He's in hunting mode, if he senses movement he's gonna throw a knife in that direction, and we both know he doesn't miss." she says.

"Ok, you may have a point. I love Ollie but sometimes his protective instincts drive me up the wall, it's like he has no regard for his own safety if he thinks someone he cares about might be in danger" she says.

"You do realize you're exactly the same right?" Ana comments. "you and him are so damned protective of each other, it's what makes you such a good team when we're out in the field, you're both constantly on the lookout for a potential threat."

Meanwhile Oliver is moving cautiously through the house eyes taking in every detail of the apartment ensuring everything is how they left it earlier. Having found nothing amiss on the first floor he makes his way to the second while maintaining his hold on the knife and listening for any signs of movement. 'Must have been a false alarm' he thinks to himself a few minutes later having found nothing out of place on the second floor either. He begins to make his way back downstairs to inform the girls that the house is clear when suddenly a cloaked and masked figure drops from the ceiling, knocking the knife from his hand and pinning him to the wall with a knife at his throat. 'Don't make any sudden moves, I will not hesitate to use this knife.' A voice says.

 **A/N: Long chapter! Usually I wouldn't make chapters this long but I couldn't find a good place to cut it so here it is! Hope you enjoyed it, leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any it's characters. They belong to DC entertainment.**

 **A/N: Chapter seven is here! Hope you like it please leave a review and let me know what you think, reviews inspire me and inspiration helps the chapters come quicker.**

CNRI offices, the glades.

"Congratulations Thea, after today you've completed your community service. How do you feel?" Laurel asks smiling at the younger girl.

"Pretty good actually. But I'll miss this place, I know I wasn't exactly thrilled in the beginning but I've really enjoyed working here." she replies. "You wouldn't need an intern by any chance, would you? Schools about to let out and Ollie suggested finding a summer job."

"I might be able to arrange something." Laurel responds "Give me a couple of hours, I'll make some enquires and get back to you before the end of your shift."

"Thanks, that would be great. I can print off a copy of my resume if you want." she says.

"Oh I don't think that will be necessary, everyone here already knows you and just between you and me, they all think you've been a great addition to the team. Even if your internship wasn't voluntary, you've worked hard, and maintained a positive attitude so I think the boss will be more than happy to give you a summer job. He was commenting just the other day about how much easier it is to navigate the filing system since you started working here." Laurel says.

"Oh yeah, I ran out of things to do a couple weeks ago so I rearranged all the files, split them into categories based on the kind of case they pertained to and then alphabetized each category." she says.

"You did that? I thought it was one of the secretaries or clerks." Laurel says.

"Nope, they're always too busy answering phones, directing clients to the right desks and running errands for the lawyers." she says.

"Well then let me be the first to congratulate you on a job well done. Your system is so much better than the previous one. Before it could take up to half an hour to find the right file, now I can go to the filing cabinet and find them straight away." Laurel says.

"I'm just here to help." Thea replies with a smile.

"And you are helping, I'll definitely be telling the boss who is responsible for the new filing system. He's very pleased with it, before you rearranged the files he would come up with any excuse he could think of even if it was something really stupid in order to avoid going and getting a file for himself, I think everyone in this office has been tasked with retrieving a file for him at least once. But now he'll quite happily get his own files." she says.

"Thank you Laurel. Really, I know I was kind of a massive bitch when I started working here, but that was just because I felt like I didn't get a say in it." Thea says.

"You should really be thanking Oliver. He came up with the plan, talked to the judge, set it up with my boss. None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for him." Laurel says.

"Sounds like Ollie. Even when I'm a complete bitch to him he's looking out for what's best for me." Thea says. "So what would you like me to do today?"

Oliver and Sara's apartment, late evening.

"You're going to tell me exactly who you are and who sent you here and I don't think about lying because I will know if you're not being entirely truthful" the voice says.

"Ok, fine. I'll tell you what you want to know just get the knife away from me." Oliver responds.

"Very well, but if you call for help, try to escape or anything else equally stupid and reckless I will take you down." the voice says before removing the knife from his neck and taking a couple of steps backwards.

"Thank you." Oliver says pushing himself off the wall into a standing position before rapidly kicking out at his attacker disarming them of the knife and putting them in a headlock before they have a chance to react. "You break into my house threaten me with a knife and you think I'm just going to answer your questions?"

"Wait…this is your house? O-oliver?" the intruder asks.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Oliver asks venomously.

"Well forgive me for not recognizing you when you're dressed like Robin Hood going to a masquerade ball." the intruder says.

"That's a bit rich coming from someone who's dressed like a cross between a ninja and Batman." Oliver retorts.

"A cross between a ninja and Batman huh? That's one I've never heard before. I should tell my father, I'm sure he'd find it amusing." the intruder says.

"Nyssa?" Oliver asks "Is that you? Why are you wearing a mask? What happened to the opaque scarf?"

"Yes it's me." Nyssa says removing her mask and smiling at the archer.

"What are you doing breaking into my apartment?" he asks removing his own mask and lowering his hood.

"I didn't break in. I called Sara earlier and told her I was coming to town and asked I she could recommend any good hotels. She said I could stay her and told me where the spare key is." Nyssa says. "Did she not tell you?"

"It must have slipped her mind." Oliver says.

"So this is the famous 'vigilante' I've been hearing so much about?" she asks.

"Well I couldn't exactly go about my business as Oliver Queen, and the League armor isn't really practical for this time of year, plus if the person behind The Undertaking has ties to the League as we suspect I don't want to spook them by alerting them to our presence before we know who they are." he says.

"So are Sara and Ana here or are you alone?" she asks.

"No they're here. They're just waiting downstairs, I heard you when we came in and came to investigate." he says.

"And Sara was happy to let you come up here by yourself?" she asks skeptically.

"I doubt she was happy about it but she hasn't followed me yet, we should probably get back downstairs before her patience runs out and she comes up here to check I'm not dead or something." he says.

"That might be a good idea." she says with a chuckle.

"She's gonna be so happy to see you." he responds with a smile as they descend the stairs together "They both are, and your timing couldn't be better. We were just talking this morning over breakfast about how we need someone else in the field so when we split up none of us has to be alone. With you here we can go in pairs."

"I'd be more than willing to help in any way I can. That is after all why I am here." Nyssa replies. "It'll be nice working with the three of you again"

"Well I think I can safely say that we'll all be more than happy to welcome you to the team." he says opening the door and entering the lounge room where Sara and Ana are awaiting his return.

"Ollie! What took you so long? I thought something happened to you but Ana wouldn't let me follow to investigate." Sara exclaims throwing herself at Oliver as he enters the room.

"False alarm, it seems the 'intruder' was actually an old friend." he says hugging her back.

"Old friend? What old friend?" Ana asks.

"One who has come to offer her services is your latest mission." Nyssa says stepping into the room with a smile.

"Nyssa! You're here, it totally slipped my mind that you were arriving today. I was hoping to be here to greet you." Sara says pulling away from Oliver to hug her friend.

"That seems to be a common occurrence of late, your boyfriend here had no idea I was even in the country let alone coming to stay in your apartment." The assassin replies.

"Oh yeah Ollie I forgot to tell you this morning… Nyssa's coming to town and I offered her our guest room." Sara says coming to stand next to him again.

"Any idea when she'll be arriving?" Oliver asks playing along.

"Probably sometime in the next twenty-four hours but I could be as much as thirty-six depending on how her travel plans pan out." she replies.

"Ok. We should make sure the spare key is where it's supposed to be, just in case we're not here when she arrives." he says.

"Good idea." she agrees "I'll go do that right away."

"Great, and I'll go check the spare room to be sure it's ready for our guest." he says.

"Meet you in the kitchen in five for coffee?" she asks.

"Yeah, and don't think I forgot about at head injury. I know you said you're fine but I'm gonna check myself to be sure." he says.

"Wait, head injury what head injury?" Ana demands.

"It's nothing, Oliver's just being his usual over protective self." Sara says.

"One of the guys we took down today nailed her in the face with his elbow." Oliver explains.

"You make it sound so much worse than it actually was, he barely touched me, there's not even a bruise or anything." she says.

"I still want to check it out." he says.

"You're not gonna win this one Sara, you may as well just agree to let him check it out. We all know how stubborn he can be." Nyssa says.

"Ugh fine! Go ahead and check it out, but just know you're just gonna come to the same conclusion I did. Namely that I am fine." she says.

Verdant basement, next day, late afternoon.

Felicity is sitting in her seat, hands fiddling nervously with a loose thread on the hem of her shirt while she stares blankly at the computer screen in front of her. Diggle sits silently next to her reading a stack of papers with ARGUS stamped in the corner. "I can almost feel the tension radiating off you." he comments "Just relax, it's gonna be fine, trust me. Oliver wouldn't have requested your presence if he didn't want you here."

"He's never spoken to me like that before." she responds quietly.

"One thing I've learned about Oliver Queen over the last few months is this. He tells it like it is no matter who he is talking to or what the situation. If he didn't want you here he would have told you straight up that you were no longer welcome." he says.

"But what about Ana? I basically accused her of not being who she claims to be." she says "and then Oliver tells us what he did about her childhood. They're probably gonna kick me of the team and then I'm gonna get fired from my job at QC and I'll have to move back home and live with my mother."

"You must really have a low opinion of me if you think one little misunderstanding is going to cause me to fire you." Oliver comments quietly causing her to jump and Diggle to pull his gun and aim in at him.

"You really have to stop doing that man. I could have shot you." Diggle says.

"He'd just dig the bullet out, stich himself up and keep going like nothing happened." Nyssa says appearing at the base of the stairs beside Oliver "I'm Nyssa Al-Ghul, daughter of Ra's Al-Ghul heir to the demon, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you Nyssa, I'm John Diggle, ex-special forces and current bodyguard of Mr Queen. Not that he really needs one." Diggle replies holding his hand out towards her.

"Nice to meet you too John. Your unit was tasked with and successfully executed many impressive missions, and you have a close personal relationship with Miss Lyla Michaels who is now a member of a little-known government organization known as ARGUS which also employs one Amanda Waller head of the Suicide Squad. I'm sorry about your brother Andy, I understand you recently put away the man responsible for his murder. The renowned hit man who never misses his mark, Floyd Lawton codename Deadshot so called because he laces his bullets with a rare poison by the name of curare which kills within minutes once it enters the blood stream. Mr Lawton is a former army sniper expert marksman and current member of the afore mentioned Suicide Squad. He also has a habit of tattooing the names of his victims on his body after each kill, your brothers' name is on the left side of his chest underneath the name Todd Pittson and above Andy Haskell" Nyssa says shaking his hand before turning to Felicity "And you must be Felicity Smoak, daughter of Noah Kutler and Donna Smoak. MIT graduate, class of grew up in Las Vegas and were raised by your mother from the time your father left when you were a young girl until you went off to college where you completed a master's degree in Cyber Security and Computer Sciences. During your time at MIT you were a member of hacktivist group along with your then boyfriend and fellow computer expert Cooper Sheldon and his roommate Myron Forest, together the three of you developed a super-virus meant for digitally defacing criminals, exposing government fraud and other noble pursuits. However at one point your boyfriend attempted to wipe out all the student loans, this lead to his being arrested by the FBI, you subsequently tried to get him off by claiming you had written the virus but he ultimately took full responsibility. He reportedly hung himself before his sentencing. Since MIT you have worked almost exclusively at Queen Consolidated where you started as an entry-level IT assistant and worked up to where you are now as one of the most valued members of the IT department."

"John, Felicity you good?" Oliver asks unable to hide his amusement at the dumbfounded looks on both of their faces.

"Y-yeah. Never better." Diggle says. "you three definitely have some interesting friends, are there any more I should know about?"

"Well I'm very good friends with the Pakhan of the Solntsevskaya Bratva but as far as I know he's not planning any trips to the States any time soon and I very much doubt you're planning on visiting Russia to commit any crimes that might encroach on his territory, so I think I can safely say your paths won't be crossing any time soon." Oliver replies.

"With anyone else I'd call bull shit, but with you that could all actually be true so I think I'm just gonna plead the fifth and pretend I didn't just hear that." Diggle says.

"That's probably a good idea. I wouldn't want to tangle with the Bratva either." Nyssa comments.

"Umm…c-can I ask a question?" Felicity asks finally having regained her composure.

"You can ask, depending on what it is you may or may not receive an answer but feel free to ask." Oliver says.

"Umm…what exactly does 'heir to the demon' mean? And who is Ra's Al Ghul?" she asks.

"It means I am next in line to take leadership of the League of Assassins. Ra's Al Ghul is my father and the current leader of the League." Nyssa explains.

"And you're proud of that?" Felicity asks before she can stop herself.

"So, now that we've all been properly introduced how about we get down to business?" Oliver says shooting Nyssa an apologetic smile.

"Yes lets, we have a lot to do if we want to find out who is behind The Undertaking and put a stop to it before it destroys The Glades and everyone who lives there." Ana says.

"Well we don't actually know for sure that The Glades are the target of The Undertaking." Felicity points out.

"No, we don't. But we do know that it's not a positive thing, and the fact that an unknown person or group of people has teamed up with The Triad to increase the volume of drugs in The Glades at the exact same time that The Undertaking is approaching seems like too much of a coincidence to not be related. That is my opinion on the matter at least, feel free to disagree if you have better theory." Sara says.

"So what's our first move?" Nyssa asks.

"I was thinking about that last night, and I think we should try to sever ties between The Triad and their new financial backer." Oliver says.

"With all due respect, how the hell do you expect us to do that?" Diggle asks.

"I have an idea that might work." Oliver replies cryptically.

"Would you like to share that idea with the group." Diggle asks.

"No" Oliver replies his tone making it clear the subject is not up for discussion.

"How long do you need to put this plan of yours in motion?" Nyssa asks.

"Two or three days." Oliver replies.

"Well seeing as today is Thursday, how about we take the weekend and reconvene on Monday night to see where we're at?" Sara suggests.

"Sounds good to me. Dig you can take the weekend off, take Carly out for dinner, somewhere nice. I can get you a table at any restaurant in the city." Oliver says.

"You don't have to do that man, Carly's happy with pizza and a movie. Plus if we go out we'd have to get a baby sitter for Andy Jnr." he says.

"We can babysit." Sara says.

"I can't ask you to do that." Diggle protests.

"You're not asking, I'm offering. On second thought, I take that back, I'm not offering, I'm insisting. Saturday night Ollie I will babysit, and you take Carly somewhere nice." she says.

"But don't you guys wanna go out yourselves on Saturday night? When was the last time the two of you spent quality time together that didn't involve putting your lives on the line to cross another name of the list?" he asks.

"Ollie and I live together. We spend plenty of time together." Sara responds.

"Yes, but when was the last time you two went on an actual date where the only goal was to enjoy each other's company?" Diggle asks.

"Have you two ever gone on an actual date?" Ana asks.

"Yes, we've been on dates before. Plenty of times!" Sara replies defensively. "Ollie took me out for dinner practically every week when we were in Russia."

"Ok ok, let me re-phrase that. Have you been on a date since you got back to Starling?" she asks.

"Well no but we've been busy with the list and reconnecting with our families." Sara says.

"We've been here for almost six months." Ana points out.

"Six months! You two haven't gone on a date in six months! That's ridiculous! Surely you haven't been spending every night out there fighting crime." Nyssa exclaims.

"That is pretty bad. Six months is a long time." Diggle agrees.

"Have you really not gone on a date since you got back? That doesn't sound right to me." Felicity pipes in.

"Hey! All of you back off." Oliver snaps angrily crossing the room and wrapping an arm round his girlfriend who looks like she's about to cry. "Can you not see that you're upsetting her or are you all so hell bent on getting your point across that you don't care?" he adds glaring at them all before leading Sara up the stairs without a backward glance.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading please leave a review and let me know what you think and feel free to PM me with ideas or suggestions!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any it's characters. They belong to DC entertainment.**

 **A/N: Here's the new chapter! Hope you enjoy it. Please review and let me know what you think!**

 **Verdant basement, evening.**

"Should one of us go and apologize?" Diggle asks glancing towards the stairs uncertainly.

"No. I think we should give them their space." Ana says. "As you can probably tell Oliver isn't particularly happy with any of us right now."

"Do you think Sara's ok?" Felicity asks. "She looked pretty upset."

"She's with Oliver, she'll be fine. He'll know exactly what to say to make her feel better." Nyssa says.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. She was just trying to do something nice and I threw it in her face like she was handing me a lump of coal." Diggle says disgusted in himself.

"It's not like I helped, I had to point out that they haven't been on a date since they got home." Ana says.

"And then I had to act like it was the worst thing in the world that they haven't gone on a date, no wonder she was so upset." Felicity says.

"Ok this isn't helping! If we're just going to have a massive pity party we're not going to solve anything. What's said is said and we can't take it back now so there's no point in dwelling on it. All we can do is learn from our mistakes, apologize and try not to make the same mistake in the future." Nyssa says.

"Did you just say, 'pity party'?" Ana asks incredulously

"Well I had to say something to put an end to you three spiraling into a never-ending game of 'I'm a terrible person, no I'm worse' we all said things we shouldn't have so we are all equally guilty." she replies.

"So how are we gonna make it up to them?" Felicity asks.

"Well first of all I think we should get her some flowers, and maybe a card that we can all write in telling her we're sorry and that we didn't mean to upset her." Ana says. "I know it's kinda tacky but Oliver's probably gonna be a little more protective of her for the next week or so and showing that we know we made a mistake will go a long way to ensuring he doesn't rip our heads off for hurting his girlfriend."

"He probably could rip our heads off if he really wanted to." Nyssa says with a smile.

"Or at the very least snap our necks." Ana agrees grinning at her friend.

"Ok when you say it the two of you sound like you're serious, but then you smile like it's all a big joke…could Oliver actually snap our necks if he wanted to?" Felicity asks.

"Oh definitely." Nyssa says.

"Umm…so why exactly does that make you smile?" she asks.

"Because it's kinda sweet that he's so protective of her that he'd be willing to do that to someone for upsetting her. You don't see that kind of love and loyalty very often. So many people nowadays are in this life for themselves and don't care who they hurt if they get what they want. Seeing how happy Oliver and Sara are together and how much they clearly love each other just kinda restores your faith in humanity a little bit" Ana says.

"I really don't understand how Sara's father is so oblivious to the fact that Oliver is completely devoted to making his daughter happy." Nyssa says. "Isn't he a detective?

"Yeah but what's that go to do with anything?" Felicity asks.

"Detectives are supposed to be good at reading people and finding clues to help them solver murders and other crimes right?" Nyssa asks.

"Yeah, that's kinda the whole point of being a detective." Felicity says.

"Well if he's so good at reading people, how is it that he hasn't seen how happy his daughter is whenever she's in the same room as Oliver? And how has he not noticed how much Oliver has changed since he got back from his five years away? Please tell me he's at least noticed how much his daughter has changed." Nyssa says

"He has. Noticed how much she's changed that is." Ana says. "She had lunch with him last week and when she came home she told Oliver that Quentin had said he was proud of her for becoming the strong and independent young woman he had always known she could be."

"How did Oliver take that?" Nyssa asks.

"He was happy for her. Sara's always compared herself with herself with Laurel and felt like she's a disappointment because she's not following in her father's footsteps and pursuing a job in law enforcement the way Laurel has by becoming a lawyer. I mean I know being a cop and being a lawyer are two completely different things, but they are both jobs that uphold the law and ensure people are doing what they're supposed to be doing. So to have her father say he's proud of her is a really big deal, and Oliver understands that." Ana explains.

"Can I please go and beat some sense into the good detective?" Nysssa asks.

"Nope, I already offered my services to Oliver for the exact same thing. But he's determined that he wants Quentin to come to the conclusion that Oliver isn't the devil incarnate on his own terms and not because someone else has forced his hand. Say's it won't 'feel right' if he knows Quentin didn't make the decision to trust him of his own volition."

"Damn him and his morals!" Nyssa jokes.

"I know right? Life would be so much easier if he'd just let us help Quentin see what a great guy he is now, and how much he's changed from the spoiled playboy who took Sara on the gambit and broke Laurels heart." Ana says.

"If we're being fair Sara's just as much to blame as Oliver is in the whole thing. She chose to get on the gambit with him knowing full well that he was dating her sister at the time." Nyssa says.

"They've both matured a lot since then, and they apologized profusely to Laurel when they got home. She's forgiven them and is very supportive of them as a couple, she says they're a good match for each other. Quentin knows this and yet he still takes every opportunity he can to try and convince Sara that she can find someone better if she keeps looking." Ana says.

"He's actually said that to her? That she can find someone better than Oliver?" Nyssa ask incredulously.

"Yeah. More than once. Just a few weeks ago when they had lunch together he asked her if she was still living with him, and when she said yes he told her 'he's just a good for nothing billionaire playboy with no ambition' and that 'you have so much potential and Queen is holding you back' she puts on a brave face but I know it's bothering her, and Oliver knows it too. She's afraid that he's gonna take himself out of the picture to save her from the pain of having to choose between him and her father." Ana says.

"But surely Oliver wouldn't ever actually leave her would he?" Diggle asks.

"If he got it into his head that his presence in her life as doing more harm than good you bet he's take himself out of the picture." Ana replies.

"How could his being part of her life ever cause her more harm than good? That's a ridiculous notion, and Oliver's not stupid enough to think there would be any set of circumstances that would lead her to believe she's better off without him." Nyssa says.

"No, he's not stupid. But he knows what it's like to lose a parent. He was right there as close as I am to you when Robert pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head." Ana says.

"Wait…what? Oliver was there when his father died? He's never mentioned that, he didn't even tell his family, Thea and Moira think Robert drowned." Diggle says.

"Yes, Oliver witnessed his father killing himself. That information does not leave this room and if either of you ask Oliver to elaborate I will take it upon myself to uncover every dirty little secret, lie, half-truth, misdemeanor and transgression you have so painstakingly tried to keep to yourself and use them as ammunition in war against you." Nyssa says. "Or alternatively I'll task one assassins with killing you and rest assured I'll be telling them to make it slow and extremely painful."

"In the interest of clarity, if he ever volunteered that information would you still feel the need to expose our every secret and potentially hire an assassin to kill us?" Diggle asks.

"No." Nyssa replies.

"Well I don't know about the rest of you but I personally would like nothing more than to grab some dinner, have a few drinks and head home." Ana says.

"Don't live with Oliver and Sara?" Felicity asks.

"Yeah, what's your point?" Ana asks.

"You said before that we should give them some space, how are you going to do that if you're going home?" she asks.

"Their apartment is huge, it has three floors and the top one is practically an apartment in and of itself, we can be there without running into them." Nyssa says.

"You're staying there to?" Diggle asks.

"I had a hotel room booked but they insisted I stay with them." she replies.

"We'll see you on Monday then I guess. Tell Sara we're sorry." Diggle says.

"Will do, have a good weekend." Ana says.

 **Unknown café near Verdant, The Glades, evening.**

Oliver Queen walks into the café, shoulders tense with an expression of worry and mild annoyance on his face. He quickly scans the tables until he spots Sara sitting in a booth at the back of the room, head resting on her hands as she stares blankly at the menu in front of her. "Two coffees and a serve of pancakes with maple syrup please." he says to the young woman behind the counter.

"I'll bring that out to you when it's ready, where are you sitting today?" the waitress asks.

"No that's fine. I'll wait and take it with me." he replies.

"Two coffees and pancakes with maple syrup." the waitress calls a few minutes later.

"That'd be for me." Oliver says "how much do I owe you?"

"12:30 please." she replies placing the items on a tray and pushing it towards him.

"Keep the change." he says handing her a $20 before picking up the tray and heading towards the back of the café.

"I thought I'd find you here. When you just jumped on your bike and took off after we got out of Verdant I knew you'd either here or in the clock tower, but this is closer so I thought I'd come here first." he says setting the tray down on the table between them and handing her a cup of coffee before sliding into the seat beside her.

"Pancakes with maple syrup and coffee. You know me so well." she says offering him a smile.

"Are you ok?" he asks.

"Do you think it's weird that we haven't been out on a date since we got back here?" Sara asks looking down at the table nervously. "I thought it was just because we were busy with settling back in, getting things set up at Verdant, reconnecting with our families and everything, but after hearing what John and the others were saying it made me think that maybe it is weird that we haven't been on a proper date. We've been home six months and haven't gone out on a date once, no wonder they think there's something wrong with us, I would if I was them. You must think I'm a terrible girlfriend, I know I do."

"Ok firstly I could never, and would never think you are a bad girlfriend. Not in a million years, you Sara Lance are the best thing that ever happened to me, and I know beyond a shadow of doubt that I am the luckiest guy in the multiverse to have you as my girlfriend." he says leaning across the table to give her a quick but passionate kiss. "I love you, I hope you know that. As for the not going on a date since we got back thing, yeah ok that is a little weird, and I apologize for that, I should have taken you on dates like we did in Russia, I hope you can forgive me for that."

"There's nothing to forgive Ollie. I don't need to go on fancy dinner dates to know what I already know in my heart. I love you and there is no one else I would rather be with." she says. "Oh and just for the record I love you too.

"Ok so I'll just call and cancel the private rooftop dinner and helicopter tour of coastline, shall I?" he asks pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Don't even think about it!" she says plucking the phone from his hand and holding it above her head. "Are you really taking me on a helicopter tour? I've always wanted to go in a helicopter! Ever since I was seven and a girl in my class brought in pictures of her family's trip to The Grand Canyon for show and tell, they went on a helicopter tour and I thought it was the coolest thing ever"

"I know that's why I thought it would be a nice thing for us to do together." he says smiling at her enthusiasm.

"How did you know about that?" she asks.

"Well I didn't know the story about your friend bringing pictures for show and tell, but do you remember when we were in Russia, and Anatoly's contact arrived in a helicopter and you said to Ana that you'd always wanted to go in a helicopter?" he says.

"You remembered that? I didn't even think you heard. You weren't even next to me at the time, you were with Anatoly talking to the pilot…are they still called pilots if they're flying helicopter or is that just in planes?" she asks.

"Well I did hear, and I vowed to myself that one day I would take you on a helicopter. Granted it took a little longer than I had hoped but well late than, never right?" he says. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." she assures him with a smile. "Let's go home so I can show you just how fine I am"

 **Starling City Docks, night.**

"I would like to personally thank you all for being here this evening. For those of you who don't know me I am Chien Na Wei and I have some exciting news to share with you all." Chien says addressing the group of sixty or so Triad members standing in front of her.

"It must be important for the leader of The Triad to come here in person." One of the members murmurs to his friend.

"I didn't hear anything about her visit, whatever it is it must be very new." the friend replies

"As you are all no doubt aware, we as an organization are always looking for ways to expand. We already have a strong presence in the narcotics market here, but there is always room for improvement. Over the last few weeks my fellow leaders and I have been putting the finishing touches on a plan that will allow us to do just that. As of yesterday, we have a new financial partner who is helping us increase our strangle hold on the drug market in The Glades. With their money, we are hoping to see a fifty percent rise in sales within the next two years." she says.

"Who is this new partner?" a man in the front row asks.

"The identity of our new financial backer is of no consequence. All you need to know is that we have one." Chien says. "Now onto other business, a new shipment of guns is arriving tonight from our friends in the Bratva, any of you who doesn't currently own a fire-arm remain behind at the conclusion of this meeting and we will arrange a time for you to collect one. That concludes our meeting, you are dismissed, and I thank you in advance for your continued loyalty and dedication to our organization."

"How long are you staying for this visit?" a man asks as Chien steps down from the podium she was standing on to address the Triad.

"My trip is somewhat open-ended. I hope to stay at least a week to oversee the distribution and sales of our drugs to ensure that we are doing things to the best of our abilities. I have business in Hong Kong at the end of the month so I the longest amount of time I can spend here is sixteen days." she replies.

"Is there anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable" he asks.

"No thank-you Li, the suite at the hotel is quite enough." she replies with a smile. "Are all the arrangement for the gun shipment in place?"

"Yes, I have twelve men ready to unload and inventory it and the money is in my office." Li says.

"Very good, last time there was a bit of confusion and no one was here to take our shipment. Needless to say the Russians were not happy. I am sure I don't need to tell you that losing their weapons would not be ideal." she says.

"Surely we could find another supplier if the Russians stopped selling to us." Li says.

"We could, but it would take time to cultivate a relationship, and the Russians have the best quality and range of weapons so anyone else would be a step down. Make sure that you and your team are here for their arrival, we do not want to mess them around a second time" she says.

 **The Glades, night.**

"I can't believe you're taking me in a helicopter! Aren't they kind of expensive though? Are you sure you want to spend that much money on a date?" Sara says as she and Oliver exit the café and start walking towards where they parked their bikes.

"If it makes you happy its worth all the money in the world. Plus, I know a guy who runs one of the companies that runs coastal helicopter tours and he owes me a favour so he's throwing in a bottle of champagne and giving us the deluxe package for the price of the regular one." he says.

"What'd you do bust the guy out of jail?" she asks.

"No. Nothing like that, his sister worked at a club Tommy and I used to go to all the time, she's a few years older than us and was working as a bartender to put help pay for her college fees, she was studying psychology I think but that's not really relevant. Anyway one night Tommy and I are sitting at our usual table, she's serving us our drinks and this guy comes up out of nowhere and starts talking to her. At first I thought nothing of it, but after a few minutes he started raising his voice telling her she had to stop what she was doing and come with him, she told him no, she had a job to do and she would talk to him after her shift. He obviously didn't like that so he got aggressive, grabber her arm and tried to make her go with him. She looked really scared, was begging him to let her go, even tried pulling away but he wouldn't let her go. I wasn't just gonna let that happen right in front of me , I mean what if had been Thea? I'd want someone to help her out, so that's what I did. I went to her defense, pulled him off her and held onto him while Tommy called the cops to take him away." he says.

"Did he put up much of a fight?" she asks.

"Not after I told him who I was, his father and mine were old Golf buddies, played together every week when their work schedules permitted it, and probably even sometimes when they didn't but anyway I know his dad, and I knew he wouldn't approve at all of how his son was behavior at all. I told him that if he ever hurt another woman again I'd write an anonymous letter to his father containing the photos I had taken that night of him grabbing his ex-girlfriend and trying to force her to come with him."

"Did the cops arrest him?" she asks.

"Yeah, it turned out he was her ex and was mad at her for breaking up with him. She hadn't been returning his calls so he decided to come down to her workplace and have it out with her there." he says glancing over his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"Nothing, everything is fine." he replies with a smile.

"Then why do you keep looking behind us?" she asks.

"See that car across the street? The dark blue one with the smashed headlight?" he asks.

"Yeah. What about it?" she asks.

"It was outside Big Belly Burger when we went to get lunch last week, I saw it again outside Queen Consolidated the next day when I went to pick my mother up for lunch, then it was outside the coffee shop down the block from the apartment the other day when I went to get us coffee. This morning it was outside the locksmith when I went to get another key for the apartment cut so Nyssa and Ana can each have their own, then it was at the bank when I went to pay a bill and now it's here." he says. "I mean it could just be a coincidence but…

"You don't think it's a coincidence" she finishes for him. "So, what do you want to do?"

"What I want to do is go over there, drag the driver out of the car, throw them up against the wall and demand to know why they are following me." he says.

"Yeah that might not be the best idea you've ever had. For one you have no idea who that car belongs to, they could be dangerous and secondly you're kinda recognizable so if you go over there and get into a fight the press are gonna go crazy printing stories about how Oliver Queen is getting in trouble again." She

"And my getting arrested for aggravated assault would just give your father more ammunition in his vendetta against me." he says. "Sorry. I didn't mean that. He has every right to dislike me. I betrayed the trust of one daughter and almost killed the other."

"No. Ollie don't start that again. I am just as much to blame for betraying Laurel and I feel bad about that, but she's forgiven us for that. The other part about almost getting me killed is just ridiculous on every level. I chose to get on that boat with you, and all the times that I nearly died were because other people were threatening us. You never once put me in danger, and I have always known that you will keep me safe, I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you." she says.

"I'm pretty sure you got that the wrong way around there." he says. "I wouldn't be here without you."

"How about we agree that neither of us would be here without the other?" she suggests.

"Deal." he says pulling her to him and leaning down to capture her lips in a sweet kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." she replies kissing him back and wrapping her arms round his neck to pull him closer. "Don't ever leave me."

"Never." he says pulling away slightly to look her in the eyes. "I'll only leave if and when you tell me to."

"That's not gonna happen" she replies staring up at him and getting lost in his bright blue eyes. "You are the only one I want to be with."

"I feel the same way about you." he replies.

"We're in agreement then." she says pulling him back in for another kiss.

"One hundred percent" he replies against her lips giving her one last long kiss before pulling away again "as much as I would love to stay here like this with you for the rest of eternity, we should probably get going."

"Yeah you're probably right." she says. "Come on, lets go home."

"You go ahead, there's something I have to do first." he says eying the dark blue car that is still parked outside the café a few meters away.

"You're not really gonna beat a confession out of the guy in that car are you?" she asks.

"Of course not." he replies with a smile before running over to his bike lifting the seat and taking out a small duffle bag. After checking to make sure no one is watching he goes into an abandoned building, coming out a few moments later he stows the bag back in it's compartment and makes his way back across the street to where Sara is standing "But the Arrow might." he adds as he passes her on his way to the suspicious car across the street.

"Damn it Oliver!" she growls to herself just as her phone beeps telling her she's received a text message. _'See you at home, I have to get to the bottom of this, if someone is following me I want to know who it is and why'_ the text says _. 'Fine, I'll go home. But this conversation is not over, not by a long shot.'_ she replies before shoving her phone in her pocket and getting on her bike which is parked next to Oliver's. 

**A/N: Thanks for reading guys, hope you liked it! Leave a review and let me know what you think.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any it's characters. They belong to DC entertainment.**

 **A/N: Here's another chapter, sorry it took so long to update, writers block and busy work schedule have combined to make writing time hard to come by. But I will endeavour to update more often in the future! Hope you like the chapter, let me know what you think and as always feel free to PM me.**

Sara and Oliver's apartment. Evening.

"Do you think they'll be ok with us being here? Oliver was pretty angry with us all before he left." Nyssa says as she and Ana let themselves into the apartment.

"Yeah they'll be fine. He was just being protective of Sara, she's one surefire way to get to him. Unfortunately for anyone who tries to hurt her to get to him, doing so is also a pretty good way to earn yourself a nice little vacation in the hospital." Ana says.

"His has a sister, doesn't he? A younger sister, Thea if I recall correctly." Nyssa says.

"Yeah that's right. I haven't met her yet, but he talks about her so much I almost feel like I know her already." Ana says

"Have you asked to meet her?" Nyssa asks.

"Yeah, a few times. He and Sara are having some friends and family over for a dinner party tomorrow night, and Thea's coming to that so we'll be able to meet her then. Along with Oliver's best friend Tommy Merlyn and Sara's sister Laurel. Oh and Moira and Walter, Oliver's mother and step-father." Ana explains.

"What about Detective Lance? And Sara's mother. Are they coming?" Nyssa asks.

"Her mom is a college professor, she teaches Greek and medieval history, but after the divorce from Quentin she moved to Central city and hasn't really had much contact with the family since. So, she won't be here. Quentin, well your guess is as good as mine. He was invited, but I don't know if he'll come. He doesn't exactly approve of his daughter's relationship with Oliver, and he's made that abundantly clear to anyone who will listen." she says.

"My father loves Oliver. I swear he'd be trying to play match maker and marry the two of us off if Oliver wasn't with Sara." Nyssa says.

"Ra's Al Ghul the demons head himself, playing match maker between you and Oliver? I'd pay to see that." she muses.

"Well it's not gonna happen. My father knows Oliver and Sara aren't just together for convenience or until something better comes along. He even said to me once 'the relationship between those two is extremely rare, particularly for a couple as young as they are.' He was impressed by how dedicated they are to each other, so he knows there is no chance of them breaking up." Nyssa says "Just between you and me though…."

"Did you hear that?" Ana asks suddenly cutting Nyssa off mid-sentence. "It sounds like someone's outside the front door."

"It could be Sara and Oliver." Nyssa suggests.

"Could be but it sounds like just one set of footsteps." Ana says.

"Would John or Felicity have come over to apologize to Sara?" Nyssa asks.

"I don't think so, but I guess it's a possibility" Ana says.

"Only one way to find out." Nyssa says crossing the room and pulling the door open. "Can I he…." she begins but trails off when she sees Sara standing in front of her with a look of worry and frustration on her face. "Sara….are you ok? Did something happen?"

"No. Yes…I don't know." Sara answer confusedly. "Can we go inside? I'd rather not talk out here"

"Of course, it's your apartment." Nyssa says stepping aside to let her enter and closing the door behind her.

"Hey Nyssa who was at the door?" Ana asks coming into the hallway from the kitchen.

"Hi Ana." Sara says forcing a smile onto her face.

"Oh, hey you're home. Umm I just wanted to apologize for upsetting you earlier…"

"No it's ok, I know you were all just trying to help. I've just been feeling like I'm a total failure as a girlfriend lately. Ollie and I haven't been out on a date in ages, and I miss him and I know that sounds crazy because we live together and everything but it's not really the same thing you know? Plus there's my dad and his constant little reminders that he hates my boyfriend. Ollie acts like it doesn't bother him but I know it does and if I'm being honest it bothers me to. I know Ollie and I have made mistakes and the way we got together was anything but ideal. But that was five years ago, we were just stupid kids back then, so much has changed in those five years, we're not the same people we were back then, but all my father see's is the spoiled rich playboy who hurt Laurel." Sara says. "

"Have you spoken to Oliver about this?" Nyssa asks.

"Yeah, well not the part about my father hating him, he spends enough time blaming himself for that without me bringing it up. But I told him the rest." she says.

"And what was his response to that?" Ana asks.

"He basically said that he loves me and that I'm the only one he wants to be with, and the he started apologizing for us not having gone on a date since we got home. At which point I told him there was nothing to apologize for because I know he loves me and I don't need him to take me to out to fancy restaurants to prove his love to me. Then he pulled out his phone and said he'd better call and cancel the private helicopter tour of the coastline he's planned for us…."

"He's taking you on a PRIVATE helicopter tour? Don't those things cost a fortune when you're in a group let alone having the whole chopper to yourselves." Ana says.

"Apparently he knows a guy who runs one of the tour companies, and this guy owes him a favour because he saved his sister from her creepy ex who was pretty much attacking her in a bar full of people. So anyway Ollie stepped in, helped the girl escape and had Tommy call the cops, they came, took they guy away and the rest is history." she says

"This would have taken place before the two of you got on the gambit right?" Nyssa says.

"Yeah before the Gambit. It definitely wouldn't have been in the last six months." Sara says.

"Where is Oliver anyway? Surely he hasn't gone back to Verdant or to cross another name off the list." Ana says.

"When we left the café he saw the same dark blue car he's been seeing around town all week and went to investigate." Sara explains.

"What dark blue car? He didn't say anything about being followed by a blue car, not to me anyway." Ana says.

"Not to me either. But last night he told me he's been seeing it in the same places as him a lot lately, like more often than can be put down to coincidence." she says.

"And he didn't mention any of this before now why?" Nyssa asks.

"Because he's Oliver." Sara says "This person who's following him, if that's even what they're doing is a mystery. We don't know anything about them or what their intentions are. There is absolutely no way that he would be letting anyone other than himself get to the bottom of It. So that's what he's doing, completely dis-regarding his own safety and well-being of course but well you know Ollie, when it comes to anyone even potentially threatening those he cares about he'll stop at nothing to put an end to that threat once and for all. Which I guess is kinda sweet because he's just showing that he cares, but on the other hand I actually kinda like the guy, you know just a little bit, and I want him in my life, which coincidentally is a lot easier if he's alive. I don't know about the rest of the world, but for me personally it's just so much easier and more satisfying when they person you want to spend the rest of your life with is actually among the living and I'm just afraid that if Ollie keeps insisting on taking risks like this he's gonna end up on the wrong side of a bullet and that well that would kinda suck because as I said before I kinda like the guy."

"I think you've been spending too much time with Felicity. Because that right there was some serious Felicity level babbling." Ana says. "But for the record, you're not gonna lose him."

"I really hope you're right. I don't know how I'd go on without him." she says.

"You'd be fine, sure it would be hard and I'm not disputing that, if anything happened to Oliver I'd be devastated but…. he wouldn't want us to give up just because he's gone. If that happened I guarantee he'd find a way to come back from the dead and kick our asses for not carrying one with our lives." Ana says.

"Yeah." Sara says with a chuckle "I can imagine Ollie doing that. I should be out there with him!"

"About that, how exactly is he planning on finding this information he wants? Did he just conveniently forget he's Oliver Queen one of the most recognizable faces in the whole city?" Nyssa asks.

"Ahh Miss Raatko, straight to the point as usual" Ana comments. "I would also like an answer to that question."

"Oliver isn't going after them at all. The Arrow is." Sara replies.

"But…how? All he had with him when he left to follow you after giving us all a serve was a gym bag and he wasn't wearing the Arrow suit, and I don't think he had anything with him besides the keys to the Ducati." Ana says "which by the way I want to steal from him."

"Yeah he might actually kill you for that." Sara jokes.

"I can take him." Ana jokes back. "Do you think he'd let me ride it?"

"Possibly, ordinarily I'd say there's more chance of Justin Bieber touring with Iron Maiden as their opening act, but you're family so he'd probably make an exception. Plus he knows that you can handle a motorbike so I think your chances of being given the opportunity to ride the bike are definitely better than average." Sara says. "And to answer your other question, he had his Arrow suit in a duffle bag which he had stashed in the compartment under the seat.

"I didn't know the Ducati had a compartment under the seat." Nyssa says.

"They don't usually, but Ollie had his customized to include one." Sara explains.

The Glades, night.

The Arrow stands alone on a rooftop keeping a close eye on the dark blue car parked on the street below, and scanning the area for any signs of danger. 'Keep your head on a swivel kid' Slade Wilsons voice murmurs in his ear. The first time he heard these words from the Australian, while in the jungles of Lian Yu they made little sense to the former playboy Now almost six years later they have become something of a motto for the archer. Being aware of your surroundings being an integral part of survival particularly when faced with an enemy hell bent on destroying you and everyone you care about. Shaking himself from his thoughts of the past the Arrow refocuses on his target just in time to see a man approaching the car, he pauses for a second to rummage in his bag before pulling out a key which he then uses to unlock the door before climbing into the driver's seat. Wasting no time the Arrow springs into action, ziplining down the cord attached to the bola arrow attached to an anchor point on a building across the street. Landing with practiced precision he unhooks his bow and makes his way to the car before the driver has a chance to start the engine.

"Why are you following Oliver Queen?" he demands through the open window.

"Halloween isn't for another few months buddy." The driver responds with a derisive glance at the archer.

"Who are you working for?" the archer demands ignoring the mans comment.

"Look buddy I don't want no trouble ok? So why don't you just get lost." the driver says.

Losing his patience the arrow yanks the door open and pulls the driver out of his car and throws him roughly against the wall. "Tell me why you are following Oliver Queen!" he demands.

"What the hell dude! Who is Oliver Queen and why would I be following him?" the guy asks.

"Don't lie to me! I know you've been following him." Arrow growls nocking an arrow and aiming it at the man who hastily put his hands up.

"Ok! Ok! I've been following him, now can you please get that thing out of my face?" he asks voice shaking with fear.

"Not until you tell me why." the archer growls.

"But…they…they'll kill me!" he stutters.

"I'd be more worried about what I'm going to do if I was you." Arrow responds drawing back on the bowstring and releasing the arrow which imbeds itself in the wall mere inches from the other mans' head.

"Are you insane! You almost killed me!" the driver says.

"If I had been intending to kill you I would have. That was a warning, next one goes through your leg." The emerald archer responds. "Who sent you after Oliver Queen?"

"I can't tell you man, he'll kill me!" the driver says.

Without hesitation Oliver nocks another arrow and aims it at the mans head "Last chance." he says pulling back on the bow string to emphasize his point.

"M-malcolm Merlyn! Malcolm hired me to follow Queen. He wants to know what Robert Queen told his son before he died." the man responds. "C-can you put the bow down?"

"No." the arrow replies "Now tell me what you've found out, and I will know if you're lying!"

"N-nothing. I haven't found anything. The kid's a dead end, he doesn't know anything." the man responds.

"So why are you still following him?" the arrow asks lowering his bow a few inches but still keeping the arrow nocked.

"Because he's paying $500 a day. Even though I have told him more than once that all Queen does is spend his days doing normal every day stuff, usually with that hot blonde girl he came home with. I'd do the job for free if he'd let me interrogate her I'll tell you that for free. But she's always with Queen so I haven't had the opportunity to grab her." The man says. "If I ever got the opportunity though….you mark my words I'd show her things that would make her forget the billionaire in a heartbeat."

"Stay away from her." Oliver snarls so ferociously the other man freezes in fear and holds his hands up in a show of surrender.

"You got dibs or something?" he asks "Hey man it's not like I wanna marry her or anything, maybe we can work together? Let me have her for few hours, do my thing and she's all yours what do you think?"

It only takes a split second for the Arrow to leap into action, slinging his bow across his back he grabs the man in front of him by the shoulders and slams him into the wall so hard he is instantly knocked out cold.

"Damn. Remind me not to get on your bad side." A voice says from behind him and the arrow whirls around to face the intruder drawing a knife ready to strike at any moment.

"Diggle? What are you doing here?" Oliver growls lowering the knife upon recognizing his friend and ally.

"Sara called, she said you'd run off after some guy who was following you." Diggle responds eying his clearly agitated boss with concern.

"She shouldn't have. I have everything under control" he responds clicking off the voice changer.

"Yeah, it sure looks like you do. You could have killed that guy just now!" the bodyguard says.

"I know how much force it takes to kill a man, I didn't hit him hard enough to do any lasting damage, he'll just have a sore head and a few bruises possibly a mild concussion. If I'd wanted to kill him I would have." Oliver says.

"What the hell did he ever do to you?" Diggle asks.

"He said some very….suggestive things about Sara and what he'd like to do with her. Even pitched the idea of the two of us teaming up to 'have our way with her'. I wasn't going to let that go unchecked, and don't tell me what I did was wrong because we both know you'd do the same thing for Carly." he says pausing to give his friend a chance to respond. "That's what I thought."

"Just for the record man, I'm sorry about what I said to Sara, I was out of line." Diggle says

"Don't worry about it. She and I both know you didn't mean to upset anyone. You were just showing you care. With everything that's been going on since we got back dating was the last thing on our minds." he says. "We are going on a date in a couple of weeks though. Helicopter tour of the coastline followed by a private dinner at one of her favourite restaurants. She's wanted to go in a helicopter since a friend of hers from school went in one when she was six or seven."

"Every time I think I have you figured out you go and do something that takes me completely off guard. Sara's gonna love that, have you told her?" Diggle asks.

"Yeah, she's looking forward to it, I think." he says

"I'm sure she is. You're fulfilling her childhood dream of course she'd be looking forward to it." Diggle says.

"Well lets see who this guy is shall we?" he adds kneeling down, picking up the unconscious drivers wallet which fell out of his pocket as he slid down the wall and opening it. "Kenneth Jacobs, 31. Lives near the docks."

"Where would Malcolm Merlyn meet a man who lives near the docks? It's not exactly the kind of place the billionaire CEO of a fortune five-hundred company spends his time." Diggle says.

"Maybe he works at Merlyn Global, or maybe he's a parking attendant at a fancy restaurant, maybe they're golf buddies, how they met isn't really relevant. What is relevant is why Malcolm wants to know about what my father may or may not have told be prior to his death." Oliver says.

"Why would Malcolm be interested in what your father told you? Do you think he knows about the list?" Diggle asks.

"That's what I was trying to find out before you interrupted. You probably shouldn't be here when he comes to, Malcolm's paying him for information on me, everyone knows you're my bodyguard if he reports to Merlyn that you know the vigilante it could blow my cover." Oliver says.

"What more do you need to know?" Diggle asks.

"What motivated Malcolm to hire someone to follow me, what he's afraid my father told me and if it has anything to do with the list." Oliver responds.

"What do you want me to tell Sara?" Diggle asks.

"Tell her not to worry and that I'll be home soon" the archer replies turning the voice changer back on.

"And if she's not satisfied with that answer?" Diggle asks.

"Tell her I said prochnost." he says firing a jettisoning* arrow at a nearby rooftop, grabbing Kenneth around the waist and disappearing into the darkness.

Apartment complex.

"I should have gone with him." Sara says exasperatedly running a hand through her hair.

"With who, Diggle?" Ana asks.

"No. Oliver. I should have insisted on going with him when he went after the guy in the car." Sara replied. "Actually I should have stopped him from going after the guy at all."

"It wouldn't have worked, you boyfriend is more stubborn than a paddock full of mules and from what you said, he was pretty determined to track the guy down" Nyssa says. "Nothing short of death will stop him from obtaining his goal once he sets his mind to it"

"Maybe I should go after Diggle, he might need some help tracking Ollie." Sara says.

"Diggle's ex-military, I'm sure his tracking skills are just fine." Nyssa says.

"Yeah and Oliver's been trained in how to evade a tail and cover his tracks by The Bratva, ARGUS and The League of Assassins." Sara counters.

"He worked for ARGUS?" Ana asks.

"Yeah, we both did, not by choice though, they kind of recruited us against our will and tried to use emotional blackmail in the form of keeping us apart from each other to make us cooperate." Sara says.

"Why would they keep you apart? That seems a little counter-productive to me." Nyssa says.

"I don't know, they thought we'd distract each other from what they wanted us to do if they allowed us to see each other." Sara says

"It didn't occur to them that separating the two of you would bring out his violent protective streak?" Nyssa asks.

"Not at first, but I think it started to dawn on them when he put his guard in a headlock, relieved him of his weapon, aimed it at the head of Amanda Waller and cocked it." Sara says.

"I thought he didn't like guns." Ana says.

"He doesn't, but he didn't have his bow and the gun was right there for the taking" she says looking at her phone for the tenth time in as many minutes "Diggle hasn't called yet, why hasn't he called yet? Do you think he's found Ollie? Maybe I should call him."

"So, are you still thinking about throwing that dinner party so you can introduce Nyssa and I to your family?" Ana asks.

"Well considering my father hates Oliver and my mother doesn't live even live in the state I kinda doubt they'll be coming to the party. But I'm sure Laurel will come, as will Thea, Moira, Walter and maybe Tommy." Sara says.

"Who's Tommy?" Nyssa asks.

"Ollie's best friend, they met when they were little kids and have been best friends ever since." she replies. "They're really more like brothers than friends, Tommy stayed with the Queens quite a lot after his mum died."

"Sorry I didn't call, my phone died, I must have forgotten to charge it last night." Diggle says letting himself into the apartment.

"It's ok. Is Ollie with you?" Sara asks.

"No." Diggle replies "But I did find him, just in time to see him throw the guy he was interrogating head first into a wall. He said to tell you not to worry and that he'll be home soon"

"He asked you to tell me not to worry? He's out there throwing people into walls for God only knows what reason and he doesn't want me to worry? How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Sara demands "go back out there and tell him to get his vigilante but back here right now!"

"I told him you wouldn't like that answer." Diggle comments.

"And he still thought telling me 'don't worry I'll be home soon' was a good idea?" she asks.

"He said to tell you…...prognost or something like that, I probably didn't pronounce it right, he was taking through his voice changer again by that point in our conversation." Diggle says.

"Prochnost" Ana supplies "Clearly you don't speak Russian."

"No I don't, and I wasn't aware that any of you did until Oliver's little revelation about knowing the Bratva guy." Diggle says. "What does it mean? Porchest or whatever that word is."

"Prochnost." Sara corrects him. "and the meaning of the word is irrelevant."

"If it's irrelevant why did Oliver ask me to say it to you?" Diggle asks confused.

"It's their equivalent of a safe word. You know what that is right?" Ana asks.

"Yeah, we used to use that method in Special Forces." Dig replies.

"Well this is like that, but instead of the word meaning 'I need help' it means that everything is fine and there's nothing to worry about." Ana explains.

"Now that we know he's ok, did he happen to share with you why he threw the guy into a wall head-first?" Nyssa asks.

"He made some suggestive comments about Sara and what he'd like to do to her if he got the chance, I didn't hear what the guy said but it apparently included an offer to let Oliver 'have a go' if he'd be willing to team up. As you can probably guess those comments didn't sit to well with Oliver so he knocked the guy out." Diggle says.

"Did Ollie get any information out of the guy before he smashed his head into the wall?" Sara asks.

"Just that he's working for Malcolm Merlyn, his name is Kenneth Jacobs, he's 31 and lives near the docks." Oliver replies.

"Why would Malcolm be having you followed?" Ana asks.

"We can continue this conversation in the kitchen…with coffee, or vodka. Maybe both." he says.

"That bad huh?" Diggle asks.

"Potentially yes, if my suspicions are true." Oliver asks leading the group to the kitchen and turning on the coffee maker.

"So, what did you find out from our new friend?" Ana asks.

"Kenneth Jacobs, 31 lived his whole life in Starling City, dropped out of high-school at 16, was in and out of juvie for everything from petty theft to aggravated assault and possession with intent to supply culminating in an incident just before his 18th birthday that earned him an 18 month stretch in Iron Heights which evidently scared him straight because since then he's kept the job his Parole Officer got him at the docks. He met Malcolm when he answered an advertisement Merlyn posted on the notice board in the break room at the docks a few weeks ago, they never met face to face, all communication was through a PO box purchased under the name John Smith. Jacobs is still being paid by Merlyn even though he hasn't been able to get any information on me or the list." Oliver says.

"So, he was following you, came up with nothing, so why is he still following you?" Ana asks.

"Because Merlyn is paying him to do so, his hours at the docks got slashed due to city wide budget cuts and this was an easy way for him so subsidise his income off the books." Oliver says.

"Well that makes sense I guess, but there's still one thing that doesn't add up." Sara says.

"Just one?" Oliver asks.

"Pertaining to Kenneth and Malcolm yes. What reason could the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar fortune five hundred company have in the list?" Sara asks.

"We don't know for sure that's what he's after. The reasoning behind paying someone to follow me wasn't included in the job description. All Kenneth knows is that he was hired to follow me and report back on my activities, who I met with, where I went, and what if anything my father told me before he died." Oliver explains.

"Are you sure he told you the whole truth?" Nyssa asks.

"Oh, he told the whole truth." Diggle comments with a chuckle.

"How do you know that you weren't there." The demons heir replies.

"Because when someone slams your head into a wall you can be sure he means business, plus I'd wager some variation of a death threat was used as further motivation and well I don't know about the rest of you but if a guy in a hood with a bow and arrow threatened me I'd take him seriously." Diggle says.

"I never threatened to kill him." Oliver says, "I just told him that if he was lying I'd find him and use him for target practice, using exploding arrows."

"Oh yeah that's so much better." Diggle says sarcastically.

"I'm a vigilante not a saint. We can continue this conversation tomorrow at the club. Right now, the only things I want to think about are a shower and sleep." Oliver says holding his hand out to Sara by way of invitation.

"That's the best offer I've had all day." she says taking his hand and allowing him to lead her upstairs.

 _*a jettisoning arrow is one of Oliver's many trick arrows, which allows him to ascend buildings quickly even when holding onto another person._

 **A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Sorry it took me so long to update, I made it extra-long to make up for it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter please let me know what you think and if you would like a scene depicting Sara and Oliver's date in a later chapter. Leave a review if you like, see you next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or any of it's characters or location. They belong to DC entertainment.**

 **A/N: Here's the next chapter guys, hope you like it please let me know what you think.**

Sara and Oliver's apartment, night.

"Did Oliver really slam the guy's head into the wall or did you just for dramatic effect?" Nyssa asks once Sara and Oliver have disappeared upstairs.

"Why would I say something like that if it didn't actually happen?" Diggle asks.

"Like I said, dramatic effect. Make Oliver come across as a tough guy." she replies with a shrug.

"Everyone in this room is well aware of Oliver's abilities when it comes to hand to hand combat, and you two probably know better than I do the lengths he's willing to go to in order to protect the people he loves and cares about. There would be absolutely no need for me to exaggerate his skills or make things up for the purpose of dramatic effect" he says.

"Did you hear what Kenneth said to elicit that kind of response from him? Oliver might be more than willing to dish out an ass kicking when the situation calls for it, but he's generally super in control of his emotions, to the point where some believe he's incapable of feeling emotions at all, bashing a perp's head into the wall just seems out of character for him." Ana says.

"I only really caught the tail end of their conversation, Oliver told Kenneth to stay away from Sara, and when I say told it was really more akin to the way a mother lion would warn others to stay away from her cubs. Kenneth didn't seem to pick up on the inherent threat that laced the warning and suggested something along the lines of just wanting to play with her for a few hours before letting Oliver have her." Diggle says.

"Go back a few years and if someone said something even close to that about Sara within earshot of Oliver they'd find themselves on the business end of one or more of his arrows. If you ask me he got off easy, all he has to show for it is a headache and maybe a mild concussion." Ana says.

"Being thrown into a wall head first is getting of easy?" Diggle asks.

"When compared with being shot in the leg, strung up by the ankles and questioned at knife point, yeah I'd say hitting a wall is getting off easy." Nyssa says.

"Has Oliver ever actually done that to anyone?" Diggle asks.

"On multiple occasions. When it comes to the safety and well-being of the people he cares about there is nothing Oliver won't do. You're a military man, and you've worked with Oliver for months now, surely you've picked up on his heightened protective instincts." Ana says.

"That and his crazy work-out schedule. I'd wager there are some boot camps that aren't as gruelling as what he puts himself through most days. Hell the salmon ladder alone would conquer half the guys in my unit and he makes it look easy." Diggle says.

"Well you may or may not be aware of this John, but there wasn't really all that much to do on the island, so we spent a fairly large portion of each day training, hand to hand combat, target practice, cardio, weights, turns out he jungle is a pretty effective gym, plus there's the added bonus of not having myriad of distractions one is subjected to here." Ana says.

"You almost sound like you miss the place." Nyssa comments.

'"There are certain aspects of life on Lian Yu that are somewhat appealing. That being said the negatives far outweighed the positives, we may have tried to ignore it, but the fact remained that most days, probably around ninety percent were passed under threat from one group or another of the people who shared the island with us over the years." Ana says.

"You seem fairly willing to talk about your time on the island, Oliver on the other hand refuses to divulge anything." Diggle says. "It would probably do him a world of good to talk about what happened to him there, but he refuses to tell me anything about it."

"Are you willing to talk about all of your experiences in the military John?" Ana asks. "If not then I hardly think it's fair of you to expect Oliver to open up about the last five years."

"You may have a point there, but can you really say that it wouldn't help him to talk about what he went through during those five years? Anyone who speaks to him can tell it had a massive effect on him emotionally and mentally." Diggle says.

"What makes you think he doesn't talk about it? He may not be open and forthcoming about his time away with you, but that doesn't mean he shuts everyone out. He and Sara talk about everything, they have no secrets from each other. He may go lone wolf more often than any of us are comfortable with but if she asks him I direct question, he will always answer it with total honesty, it's one of the things that makes them such a good team, they trust each other unconditionally. Not many couples or teams have that, it gives them an edge, an advantage and you know better than most how valuable even the smallest advantage can be when your back is against the wall and the odds are stacked against you. The only exception to that being when he's in Al-Sa-Him mode, but that almost never happens and he's not really Oliver during those times so my point still stands." Nyssa says.

"Oliver and I may have both been on Lian Yu, but our experiences there were completely different. If he wants to talk about it he will, but until such a time comes, and until he instigates a conversation about what happened there, what the people there did to him no one and I mean no one has the right to judge him for keeping it to himself. Same goes for Sara, and just for the record, if I hear of any incident in which you attempt to divulge information about what they went through the last five years, you will answer directly to me, and it will NOT go well for you. Sara and Oliver are my family, and I will do anything to protect my family. Even if that means taking out a friend." Ana says, before getting up and making her way towards the stairs, pausing for a moment in the doorway and turning back to face her friends. " Nyssa jeg legger meg til sengs, fortell Oliver og Sara, jeg skal se dem i morgen."*

"Vil gjøre, sov godt min venn." Nyssa replies.**

"Du også" Ana calls over her shoulder before disappearing up the stairs.***

"On a scale of one to ten, how serious was that threat?" Diggle asks the assassin a few moments later.

"On a scale of one to ten? I'd say about 17." Nyssa replies. "Now if you don't mind Mr Diggle, it's been a long day and if this undertaking is half as bad as it's starting to look we're going to have a lot of long days. From personal experience long days always run more smoothly when one comes into them after a good night's sleep."

"Is this you politely kicking me out of your house Nyssa?" Diggle asks with amusement.

"This is Oliver and Sara's house, technically I am just a guest like you, only the owner of the property has the right to 'kick you out' as you put it. But I am going to bed. Stay if you so desire, keep in mind though that you are in a home with four highly trained killers who's first instinct when startled is to go on the offensive." Nyssa responds.

"I think I'll go home." Diggle says.

"Wise decision John, the last person to startle Oliver at night spent seven months flat on his back in hospital after falling from a fifth-floor balcony." Nyssa says. "and the one before that received a knife to the thigh, to this day he still has a scar and walks with a slight limp when it's cold."

"What is your motivation for telling me this? Is it an attempt to scare me? Because it's going to take a lot more than a couple of camp fire tales to scare me." he says.

"Trust me Mr Diggle if I wanted to scare you I would use something a lot more effective than dredging up memories of the past." she counters with a smile before brushing past him and disappearing up the stairs to her room.

CNRI, the glades, next day

"I have that file you asked for, and here's your coffee. Double shot latte, extra hot, one sugar." Thea says handing Laurel a folder and setting the coffee down on her desk.

"How is it that you a teenage girl with no job experience is able to get so much more work done than any other intern we've ever had?" Laurel asks looking up at the young woman in front of her.

"Dad used to bring Ollie and me to the office. Sometimes we'd get bored and re-arrange the filing cabinets in his office." Thea said. "he always made us put them back how they were, but we kept doing it because he'd give us a soda and let us watch cartoons when we were done. I think he found it amusing, he'd never admit it but Ollie says he caught him trying to hide a smile a few times."

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun." Laurel comments.

"Yeah, I loved going to the office, not only because dad gave us soda but because I got to spend time with Ollie. He was always coming up with new games for us to play, I remember one time we were playing hide and seek with one of the security guards, and Oliver somehow managed to get us to the top floor and out onto the roof. We were up there for quite a long time before they found us." she says smiling at the memory.

"You must be glad to have him back." Laurel comments.

"You have no idea, I'll never forget the moment they told me Dad and Ollie were missing and presumed dead. Everyone tried to comfort me, tell me it was going to be ok, but the only person I wanted in that moment was Ollie, he always knew how to make me feel better." she says wiping away a tear. "I remember feeling like my world had just been ripped apart, I was obviously upset about Dad, but the thought of never seeing Ollie again scared the crap out of me."

"How did he take the news that your mum is remarried? That must have been a bit of a shock." she asks.

"I don't know. He seemed to take it ok. She didn't tell him right away though, he just kinda picked up on it by himself. The first night we had dinner Raisa tripped over apologized to Ollie because she almost spilled something on him, he said something to her in Russian and Walter was like 'I didn't know you took Russian in college, Oliver.' And Ollie just looked right at him and replied with 'I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother Walter.' And then went right back to eating his soup like nothing had happened." Thea says.

"That sounds like Oliver, he always did have a tendency to be a little blunt." Laurel says with a chuckle.

"Does it bother you?" Thea asks before she can stop herself.

"Does what bother me?" Laurel asks.

"Nothing, forget I said anything. I should get back to that filing and let you get back to whatever case you're working on." the younger girl replies.

"You want to know if it bothers me that my ex-boyfriend is dating my little sister." Laurel says.

"How did you know that?" Thea asks.

"Because that's exactly what I'd want to know if our roles were reversed." Laurel says.

"Well if one of my ex's ever starts dating Oliver, you'll be the first person I talk to about how that makes me feel." Thea jokes.

"I was angry at first, I felt like they betrayed me. I really wanted to hate them, and I did hate them for the first few weeks I wished they had never come back. But then Sara came here to see me, Oliver was with her but he stayed at the door while she came to talk to me. I told her I didn't want to see her and that she should have just stayed dead, because as far as I was concerned she was dead and I didn't want anything to do with her." Laurel says "she just left without saying a word and I went back to work thinking that was it. But then someone tapped me on the shoulder I turned around and it was Oliver. Before I could get a word out he told me that he understood that I was upset, apologized for what he had done, told me to blame him for everything and that if I wanted to hate him he would understand. He let that sink in for a bit and I thought he was done, but then just as I was about to walk away from him he continued and told me that if I ever said or did anything to hurt Sara again I would have to deal with him and that I wouldn't like the results. I looked out the window to watch him go and Sara was outside with tears streaming down her face, I'd never seen her cry like that, not since she was a little girl and broke her arm falling down the stairs. Then Oliver came out, she went straight to him and had her smiling within minutes. That's when I stopped being angry with them, I saw how much he loves her, how much they love each other and how happy she is with him, happier than I'd seen her for a long time even before the island."

"You didn't have to tell me all of that." Thea says "But I'm glad you did."

"Well we're probably going to be sisters in law someday in the not too distant future" the lawyer comments. "as soon as Oliver gets his act together and plucks up enough courage to propose to her, I know she'll say yes, there's not a doubt in my mind that she will say yes."

"That's not gonna happen until Quentin stops acting like he's public enemy number one." Thea says. "Ollie doesn't want Sara to feel like she has to choose between him and her father. If Quentin continues on this path of hating everything about Ollie I'm afraid he's going to take himself out of the picture to spare her from having to choose between them." she adds unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"You really think Oliver would do that? Take himself out of the equation?" Laurel asks.

"If he got it into his head that that would be what's best for Sara then you bet he'd take himself out of the equation. He loves Sara and want's what is best for her, if he thinks cutting himself out of her life to keep her from losing Quentin he'll do it, completely disregarding his own feelings in the process. That's how Ollie is, when he loves someone he'll do anything for them, put their needs above his own." she says.

"But Sara loves him, I've never seen her as happy and content as she is now with him. There's no way that him removing himself from her life would be best for her, not now, not ever." Laurel says

"Well then you'd better hope your father stops treating him like pond scum, because if he doesn't I'm telling you right now, Ollie will take himself out of the equation, he knows it hurts Sara that they don't get along and he thinks it would hurt her less to lose him than to lose Quentin, particularly since your mum isn't in the picture anymore." Thea says "The only other alternative would be that he leaves, she follows him and neither of them set foot in Starling again."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Laurel comments softly.

"If it comes to that I will make it my personal mission to see your father kicked off the force and sued for defamation of character, police harassment and anything else I can think of. I just got Ollie back, I'm not going to lose him again because of some petty little grudge based on a mistake from five years ago." Thea says with a hard edge in her voice that makes it clear she means every word.

"I'll speak to him, try and get him to realize that his treatment of Oliver is hurting Sara." Laurel says.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like such a bitch. I just don't want to lose Ollie again." Thea says.

"You're not going to lose him. Not if I have anything to say about it. If I make dad see how much happier Sara is since she came home, and the way she lights up whenever she's around Oliver maybe he'll let up a bit and give Ollie a chance to prove himself." The lawyer says.

"Thankyou." Thea says smiling at her friend.

"There's no need to thank me Thea, I don't want Oliver to leave either and I think you're right if he does leave Sara will follow and that will be the last we see of either of them." she says.

VERDANT BUNKER NIGHT

"Can I ask you a question?" Sara asks as she and Oliver are sparring with escrima sticks in the middle of the room.

"You can ask me anything, you know that." Oliver replies blocking his girlfriends attack "don't hold back, I know you can hit harder than that and you know I can take it."

"I do know that, but I also know that we have a dinner party tomorrow and it would probably be best if we didn't host sporting a black eye or a bruised ribs." she says.

"You may have a point there, but if we're going to go easy on each other there isn't much point in continuing with this session." he counters.

"Ok, you really want to all out? I can go all out." she says with a smile before pulling her left arm back and aiming at her boyfriends head with renewed force.

"That's more like it!" he responds blocking the incomimg blow with his own stick.

"I got plenty more where that came from." she says with a smile.

"Bring it on." he says before adjusting his position and going on the offensive hitting out at her in a move that is almost faster than sight.

"Someone's been practicing." she comments as she blocks his blow inches from her ribs. "your sessions with John must be paying off."

"He's improving. At first he was going down in two minutes but now he's lasting more than five. His blocking and speed variation still need work, and it's going to be a long time before he's good enough to give me any real challenge, but he's not giving up and is always wiling to learn so I'm willing to teach him." he says "Now if I recall correctly you had a question for me, would you like to ask it or was the question merely to ask me if you could ask me a question?"

"To answer your question, no my question was not to ask you if I could ask a question. My actual question is this….how many people have we got coming to the dinner party tonight and what time are they arriving?" Sara asks "and yes I am aware that I technically just asked two questions."

"When you say how many people are coming do you mean how many including the four of us who live in the building, or how many are coming as guests?" he asks.

"How many people total." she confirms.

"Anna, Nyssa, Raisa, Thea, Moira, Walter, Tommy and Laurel. I invited Felicity and Diggle. Felicity is out of town visiting her mother for a few days, but Diggle is coming and he' s bringing his friend Lyla." he says.

"Felicity's not coming? Oh what a shame" Sara says sarcastically.

"Something happen between the two of you I should know about?" he asks raising an eyebrow at her tone.

"No, of course not, what makes you say that?" she asks.

"Lets just say your disappointment about her absence seemed somewhat less than genuine." he replies.

"You noticed that?" she asks with a sigh "nothing happened between us, she's fine, I don't have a problem with her, she's good at her job, she keeps our secret and that's great. I just don't like the way she flirts with you at every opportunity she gets."

"Babe, you have nothing to worry about. Felicity can flirt all she wants, it's not gonna make the slightest bit of difference. There's only one woman in the world I'm interested in flirting with and she's right in front of me." he says setting his escrima sticks down to wrap his arms around her and kiss her firmly on the lips.

"So umm…I guess we're done with the sparring session, are we?" she asks a little breathlessly.

"We can go back to that if you want" he responds, "or we could engage in another kind of physical activity."

"What if someone comes down here?" she asks setting her sticks down next to his.

"I locked the door. They won't get in without the key and I have the only set right here." he says reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys.

"I thought the door locked with a code you punch into the keypad." she says.

"It does, but I thought we should have some extra security, so I installed a lock a few days ago. Not just any lock though, this one is modified so that it needs a different key to open it depending on what side of the door you're on." he says.

Translations:

 _*translations: Nyssa, I am going to bed, tell Oliver and Sara I will see them in the morning._

 _**Will do, sleep well my friend._

 _***You too._

A/N: Thanks for reading guys! Hope you like it, sorry it took so long to update. I will endeavour to update sooner next time.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven:

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or any of its characters or location. They belong to DC entertainment.**

 **A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been ages since the last update and I am sorry for that, life has been kinda hectic lately with work, and family things going on, plus more than a little writers block. Thanks for sticking with me and being so patient, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 _ **Queen mansion morning**_

"I know Ollie said we don't need to bring anything tonight, but are we really going to show up empty handed?" Thea asks her mother.

"Of course not. I'm bringing a bottle of Chateauneuf du pape and a box of chocolates." Moira replies.

"Is Walter coming with?" Thea asks.

"Yes, he's just finishing up a phone call with the Moscow office, how are things going at CNRI?" she asks.

"Really good actually. I thought I'd get bored, but if I'm being honest it's been a lot of fun. I helped rearrange their filing system so that it's more effective and Laurel even let me babysit some of the kids that came in with their parents, there was one little girl who came in with her parents about a fortnight ago, she was so shy she just hid behind her dad the whole time. It kinda reminded me of when I used to hide behind Ollie when I was shy or scared, like when we had Christmas parties with lots of people I didn't know. He'd always come up with a game for us to play or tell me a story that made me forget I was scared and just have fun with him like we always did so I thought I'd take a chance and try playing one of those games with the little girl…I think it was just I-spy but she loved it. Then later when her parents came to take her home, she asked me if we could play again tomorrow." Thea says smiling at the memory.

"That's great Thea, has the family been back?" Moira asks.

"No, they moved to Coast City a few days later. They'd just come in to sign a few legal documents to finish up their case." Thea replies.

"So, has the whole experience made you think you want to be a lawyer?" Moira asks.

"No, I don't want to be a lawyer. I've loved working at CNRI, and I want to continue volunteering there, it's made me want to help people, but I don't think being a lawyer is for me. I get enough attention from the media just being Thea Queen." she says.

"I'm proud of you Thea. You've really learned a lot from your community service." Moira says. "you've really applied yourself and given it your full attention."

"Well it was this or juvie, and I know I said juvie at the hearing, but I really don't think I'd do well in jail." The youngest Queen says. "Orange just isn't my colour. Plus, I heard the spa facilities are seriously sub-par." She adds jokingly.

"Have you picked out what you're going to wear tonight or do we need to go on an impromptu shopping trip?" Moira asks.

"I can never say no to a shopping trip. Maybe we can invite Sara to come with us? She probably doesn't have much in the way of dresses after five years on a deserted island." Thea says.

"That's a lovely idea, and it will give me a chance to get to know her a little better." Moira says.

"Ok, I'll call her now and see if she wants to come with." Thea says with a smile pulling her phone out of her pocket and dialling Sara's number.

 _"_ _Thea, hey what's up? Is everything ok? You're not bailing on tonight are you?"_ Sara asks through the phone.

"No, no not at all. Mum and I are going shopping to get dresses for tonight, and we were just thinking it would be great you could join us." Thea explains.

 _"_ _Actually your timing could not be more perfect. I was literally just thinking that I have absolutely nothing to wear tonight, turns out five years on a deserted island leaves me somewhat lacking in the wardrobed department.?"_ she says.

"Perfect! See you there!" Thea replies before hanging up the phone and turning to her mother. "She's going to meet us at the mall in an hour, turns out she was headed there anyway."

"Wonderful. A shopping trip with my daughter and future daughter." Moira says.

"Future daughter?" Thea enquires raising an eyebrow at her mother.

"I might not know Sara very well, and neither of us know very much about what happened to her and Oliver experienced while they were gone. One thing however is blatantly obvious, whatever happened on that island solidified their relationship. It may have started off as a fling, but it's a lot more than that now. Quentin may be in denial about it, but he's going to have to face up to it one day. Sara and Oliver are committed to each other, and that's not changing any time soon." Moira says.

"I know that, how do you know that?" Thea asks "Did Ollie say something?"

"He didn't have to." Moira says. "I've seen the way they look at each other, and it hasn't escaped my attention how protective he is of her. I've only ever seen him that protective over one other person."

"Oh yeah? Who's that?" Thea asks curiously.

"You. He's always been fiercely protective of you. Every time anyone did anything to upset you he'd make it his personal mission to track that person down and make it clear that hurting you in any way was a mistake they shouldn't make twice. I remember one time you came home, and went to ask your dad for help with your homework. Robert told you that he was in the middle of an important phone call and that you should go and ask Raisa to help you instead. You immediately burst into tears and ran to your room. Oliver saw all of this, charged into the office and informed Robert that he should re-schedule the phone call, that he should go and help you with your homework, because family is more important than money." Moira explains.

"How old was he when he said that?" Thea asks.

"I think he was 12 maybe 13." Moira replies.

"He was always helping me with my homework. Ollie I mean, well dad too as often as he could, like when he wasn't at the office or in meetings, but Ollie would help a couple of times a week." Thea says smiling at the memory. "right up until he disappeared on the yacht, he was helping me with homework."

"I didn't know that." Moira says.

"Ollie said it was our secret, because he didn't want to ruin his 'street cred' by having people know he was actually smart enough to ace all his classes if he'd wanted to." Thea says.

"That sounds like Oliver." Moira says with a chuckle "Well it sounds like the Oliver from five years ago, not so sure about this Oliver."

"Whatever happened to them…to him during the last five years, he's Ollie, he's still my big brother. He's changed, we both know that, and things will never be the same as they were, because I've changed a lot in the last five years too. You know he called me Speedy the other day? I told him it was the worst nickname ever, but to be honest, I love that he called me Speedy again." Thea says "It made me appreciate having him back all over again, and I realized how much I missed him. I had a taste of being an only child and I didn't like it. Not one bit, I love having a sibling…and one day in the not to distant future I might have another one."

"Don't get ahead of yourself Thea, they've only been home a couple of months, give them a chance to settle back into some semblance of a normal life before you go about planning their wedding." Moira says.

"I'm not planning their wedding. But I do reserve the right to do so in the future. Because there will be a wedding, there definitely will be a wedding. Unless of course Detective 'I'm so perfect I can do no wrong' Lance succeeds in breaking them up, I don't see that happening though." Thea says.

"Why would Quentin want to break them up?" Moira asks.

"Umm because he hates Oliver with a burning passion, thinks he's a waste of space, spoiled, billionaire scumbag with no redeeming qualities and nothing to offer his daughter or the world in general." Thea says.

"Now I know Quentin has been a little unfair in his treatment of Oliver on certain occasions, but I don't think he hates him." Moira says lightly reprimanding her daughter.

"He does though! He's been trying to get Sara to dump Ollie since they got back." Thea protests.

"I think you're over reacting a little bit Thea." Moira says.

"Sara herself told me that her father said to her on multiple occasions that she can do better than Ollie" Thea says.

"Maybe I'll have a word to Quentin about his attitude about the relationship." Moira says.

"Oh God, mum no. Please don't. Oliver would be mortified if he found out, not to mention Sara would probably never speak to me again." Thea says. "Can we just forget I mentioned it? Let's just go, have fun, buy some cute dresses and enjoy all the food Oliver's bound to be serving at his dinner party."

"That sounds wonderful." Moira says with a smile. "I'll call for the car and we'll get going."

 _ **Oliver and Sara's apartment morning.**_

Sara steps out of the shower, wraps herself in a towel before exiting the bathroom and making her way across the bedroom to where Oliver is still in bed with his back to her reading a book. "What are you reading?" she asks plucking the book from his hands before he can stop her and looking at the front only to discover it's all in Russian.

"You're reading books in Russian now? Really?" she asks teasingly.

"It's Tolstoy, Anatoly gave it to me. Said it's better in Russian 'Tolstoy is better in Russian Oliver, everything is better in Russian'. I haven't had a chance to read it yet not the whole thing all the way through anyway, things keep happening that prevent me from doing so. But now we're home I figured I'd give it another shot." Oliver says.

"Well if you want to continue reading it, you're gonna have to come get it from me." she says dangling the book in front of him before pulling it out of his reach and running to the other side of the room with it.

"Hmm maybe I'll do that. " He says getting out of bed and walking towards her.

"You'll have to catch me first!" she says grabbing her robe before pulling the door open and running down the passage way to the stairs, descending them two at a time she pauses at the bottom to look up at him "I guess I'm too fast for you." she taunts sticking her tongue out at him.

"Are you teasing Oliver again?" Ana asks as the blonde enters the kitchen where she and Nyssa are sitting.

"Of course not. Would I do something like that?" she asks innocently.

Nyssa and Anna exchange amused grins before turning to their friend and answering as one "Yes."

"So you think I should stop?" she asks.

"No. Why would we want you to do that, teasing Oliver is one of the great pleasures in life." Ana says.

"Not sure I'd word it that way, but yes teasing Oliver is a lot of fun." Sara says "as are a lot of other things involving him."

"Ok, you can stop there." Nyssa says "I think we all know what kind of 'fun things' you're referring to without going into any more detail"

"But the details are best part" Sara protests.

"So what are you teasing him about this time?" Ana asks in an attempt to change the subject.

"I came in from the bathroom wearing nothing but towel and he was too busy reading a book to notice. So I took the book from him and now I'm here." she replies.

"What's the book?" Nyssa asks.

"I don't know it's all in Russian. He said it was Tolstoy but I don't know for sure because I don't really know all that much Russian." she says setting the book down and pulling on her robe over the towel.

"It's War and Peace" Ana says picking it up and reading the cover "This is one of the early editions, it's pretty rare. There aren't many of them left. Particularly in good condition like this one. Is this the one Anatoly giving him?" she asks.

"Yeah, it's one of Ollies few prized possessions from our five years away, he kept it in the crate with his bow, the hood and Yao Fei's herbs." Sara replies.

"Is he coming to get the book or do you think he's gone back to sleep?" Nyssa asks.

"I don't know. I thought he was following me but maybe he has gone back to sleep, or he could be in the shower." Sara says. "maybe I should go join him….partake in some of those 'fun activities' we were talking about earlier."

"Hey as long as long as it's behind closed doors, and you don't share any of the details with me you can do whatever you want with him." Nyssa says.

"You have no idea what you're missing. All those years of training with Slade, Yao Fei, ARGUS, The League and The Bratva plus you know the whole vigilante thing, you know how hard he works out, and how good he looks with his shirt off…let's just say the rest of him is just as impressive and he definitely knows how to use it." Sara says with a smirk.

"Ok from now on, unless you're willing to let us run our own tests to ensure your statements are true, there will be no more talking about your boyfriend's assets unless we ask you a direct question about it." Ana says. "oh and just an FYI, we're not gonna be asking."

"Aww, you guys are no fun!" Sara says poking her tongue out at them. "I'm gonna tell Ollie you're ganging up on me" she adds in a whiny voice similar to that of a toddler having a tantrum.

"Try it and we'll gang up on you for real." Ana jokes in a mock threatening tone. "How about it Nyssa, if she moves you take her from the left and I'll go right."

"Sounds like a plan." Nyssa agrees with a smile "I just have one question. Do we use weapons to take her down?"

"Hmm…good question." Ana replies as the two of them look over at their friend with matching smiles. "She is highly trained in hand to hand combat. But then so are we, and it would be two against one…on the other hand we have all been trained to take on multiple assailants at once, so taking all of that into consideration I think we should use our weapons."

"Ok. Weapons it is!' Nyssa agrees.

"You two are weird." Sara informs them "I should really inform Oliver of that. I mean we are housing the two of you, and he should really be informed about the level of weirdness he should expect to come from the two of you." she adds standing up from her chair and grinning at them before suddenly running for the kitchen door.

"We're gonna get you Sara Lance if it's the last thing we do!" Nyssa yells as she and Ana leap up from their chairs and run after the blonde vigilante pulling escrima sticks out as they do so.

"You better run little girl." Ana says in an exaggerated Russian accent as she and Nyssa close in on their friend cornering her just before she gets to the door and pretending to threaten her with their sticks.

"What's wrong? Too scared to engage me in combat?" Sara taunts with a grin.

"Haha, that's cute. Us scared of you? That really is very amusing." Nyssa says returning her grin.

"Cute is it? Hmm ok, well how about you put your money where your mouth is sweetheart." the blonde says.

"Don't mind if I do!" Nyssa replies swinging her arm back and her stick towards Sara in a feigned attack only to have the stick shot out of her hand by an arrow that seemingly appears out of nowhere.

"Get away from her!" Oliver snarls venomously from somewhere outside the room just before another arrow comes flying through the door, disarming Ana as it does so.

"Holy shit. How the hell did he make that shot? I'm not anywhere near being in line with the door!" Ana says as yet another arrow comes sailing into the room. This one embedding itself in the counter.

"I said get away from her. I won't miss again." Oliver says.

"Umm Sara? Sweetie how about speaking up and informing your ever so slightly protective sharp shooter boyfriend that we're not trying to kill you?" Nyssa says.

"Oh, right yeah. Sorry I was just admiring his accuracy. Five years ago, when we first got to the island he wouldn't be able to hit the empire state building if he was standing two feet from it." Sara says.

"That's great…but can we save the skipping down memory lane for a time when we're not in his cross hairs perhaps?" Ana says.

"Hmm… yeah ok." Sara agrees "Ollie! Stand down, I'm not in danger! We're just messing around."

"Do you think it's safe to move?" Nyssa asks a couple of minutes later when no response has been heard from outside the room.

"Try it and find out?" Ana suggests.

"You first." Nyssa responds.

"He's not gonna shoot you." Sara says rolling her eyes at them.

"You sure about that?" Ana asks.

"Yes, because if he was going to shoot you, he would have done it by now." Sara replies. "if you don't believe me you can ask him yourself." she adds just as the man in question appears in the doorway bow still drawn. "Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence."

"I had to answer some emails regarding the club." Oliver replies scanning the room for potential threats before setting the bow down evidently concluding that it is safe to do so.

"Ok next time I come up with the idea of pretending to attack Sara while Oliver is anywhere in the general vicinity can someone please smack me in the face and remind me of this moment?" Ana asks.

"Sorry. I thought she was in danger and just acted on impulse." Oliver says coming into the room and wrapping his arms around his girlfriend. "I didn't hurt either of you did i?"

"No. We're fine." Nyssa says. "we're probably going to need new escrima sticks and the kitchen bench is a bit worse for wear but other than that no harm was done."

"Ana, you good?" Oliver asks.

"Yep. All good. No harm." Ana replies with a smile.

"Once again, I'm really sorry. If I'd known it was you guys I would never have shot at you."

"Hey, no. It's fine. We really didn't think our plan through. If we had we would have realized that pretending to attack her within earshot of you without informing you that it was a joke isn't the best idea we've ever had." Nyssa says.

"Yeah definitely one of the worst ideas we've come up with." Ana says with a chuckle "Nice shot by the way, how the hell did you get the angle to disarm me?" she asks.

"Because he's brilliant, that's how." Sara answers pulling him in for a kiss which he gladly returns.

"So now that we're all here. Could we maybe talk about the dinner party tonight? Who's coming exactly and how much do they know about us?" Nyssa asks.

"Well the four of us will obviously be here. Then there's Sara's sister Laurel and her friend from CNRI Joanna, our friend Tommy, Diggle and his sister in law Carly with her son Andy Jnr. My mom Moira, sister Thea and my well I guess he's technically my step father Walter." Oliver says.

"No Felicity?" Ana asks.

"I don't know actually. We invited her but she hasn't said whether or not she's coming yet. But one more person isn't going to make a difference, we have plenty of space and we should have enough food." Oliver says.

"Excuse me? Should have enough food? What do you mean we should have enough food?" Sara asks raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "Are you sure you didn't take a head shot during the sparring session last night?"

"Clearly we're missing something here." Nyssa says after exchanging a confused look with Ana.

"Has he not shown you the menu he's planning on serving tonight?" Sara asks.

"Menu? I haven't seen a menu, hell I didn't even know there was one." Ana says.

"Let me get it for you, one look and you'll get what I mean." she says getting up from where she is sitting on Oliver's lap. She quickly exits the room only to return a moment later with a piece of paper which she hands to Ana "have a look at this and tell me we won't have enough food." she says before returning to her position on her boyfriend's lap.

Ana takes the piece of paper and unfolds it before looking at the list of almost thirty dishes written in Oliver's handwriting. "Damn. Did he invite the whole city for dinner? Because I don't think the apartment is big enough for that." she asks "Oooh you're Borscht! Remind me to stay on your good side if this is the kind of menu we can expect at your dinner parties. Sara, I love you but I may have to steal your boyfriend."

"Well I know how much you love Borscht, so I got in touch with Anatoly and had him email me his family recipe." Oliver informs her with a smile.

"Wait what? Are you seriously telling me that not only are you making Borscht which by the way is probably my most favourite dish in the whole world, but you're making it according to the closely guarded secret recipe of the Knyazev family?" Ana asks.

"That's what I'm telling you yes." he confirms with a smile.

"I could actually kiss you right now." Ana comments.

"Try it and I'll break your face with my escrima stick" Sara informs her friend with a smile.

"That's a little passive aggressive for this time of the morning don't you think?" Ana asks with a raised eyebrow.

Sara merely shrugs her shoulders in response before wrapping her arms around Oliver. "I'm the only one who gets to kiss him. You'll just have to find your own super-hot vigilante with a penchant for cooking and ass kicking."

"So I can't steal yours then?" Ana jokes.

"Nope." Sara responds poking her tongue out at her friend "This one is all mine. But you're more than welcome to eat as much of the veritable buffet of food he cooks as you want. Because and I am sure you will agree with me there's going to be more than enough to go around." she says.

"Yeah, enough to go around the entirety of the Bratva and League of Assassins combined and still have enough left over to feed most of Starling." Nyssa says glancing at the list over Ana's shoulder. "Lasagne, spinach and ricotta tortellini, Caesar salad, roast beef, hamburgers and chips, smoked salmon, grilled fish, Borscht, Thai green curry, ratatouille, chicken pie, lamb shanks, dahl, hummus and crudité, Manakeesh, Fatoush, Stoganof, steak, pumpkin soup, hot dogs, Peking duck, sweet and sour pork, tabbouleh, garden salad, roast vegetable, peas, corn cobs, mushroom risotto, Bouillabaisse and nachos."

"And then there's all the deserts, which he hasn't even let me see yet" Sara informs them.

"Are you flying in a battalion of chefs to help you cook all of this? Because that's a lot of food to make all in one day." Ana says.

"No battalion of chefs, and I'm not preparing it all today. I've been cooking all week, all the vegetables are chopped, aside from the crudité, hummus is made and in the fridge ready to go, meats are marinated, pies are assembled, lamb shanks are in the slow cooker so they'll be nice and succulent by tonight, tortellini and lasagne are made, as are the dahl and risotto, both of which are also vegan. Ninety percent of the prep is done, it's really just a question of cooking it all now." Oliver says.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading, once again sorry for taking so long to update. Please review and let me know what you think, reviews inspire me to write more! Also feel free to send me a message any time, I would love to talk to you!**


End file.
